


Accidentally Married

by Angryniall



Category: One Direction, niall horan - Fandom
Genre: Best Friends, F/M, Marriage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-10
Updated: 2019-12-09
Packaged: 2021-02-27 00:26:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 29,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21738298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angryniall/pseuds/Angryniall
Summary: Best friends Emery and Niall drunkingly get married in Vegas and navigate their feelings as newlyweds.
Relationships: Niall Horan/OFC, Niall Horan/plus size ofc
Comments: 1
Kudos: 11





	1. First Comes Marriage

The alarm goes off way too early for Niall’s liking. Normally, he would turn it off and allow him a few extra minutes of sleep, but today he’s got his best friend, Emery, on the other side of the bed, already getting up and ready to greet the day.

“How are you even awake this early?” Niall groans as he shoves his face into the pillow. The clock reads 4 am and it’s still dark outside. The only people who should be awake at this hour are the ones who haven’t gone to bed yet.

“Why are you complaining? I told you we should have spent the extra $60 to have an afternoon flight, but you insisted on the 6 am one! If anything, I should be the one complaining.” Emery says as she rolls her eyes and heads to the bathroom. Niall uses the few minutes she’s in there to fall back asleep, but when Emery emerges from the bathroom with her toothbrush in her mouth to discuss the day’s activities with her friend and finds him asleep, she tosses a pillow at him.

“Hey!” Niall mutters with his head pressed up against his pillow. “It’s my birthday, you shouldn’t be throwing stuff at me on my birthday!” He pouts as he finally sits up, rubbing his eyes.

“Technically, your birthday is on Saturday. Just because this is your birthday trip doesn’t mean the entire thing is about you.” His friend rolls her eyes as she spits out the remaining toothpaste from her mouth and packs up the last of her toiletries in the bag she has set at the end of Niall’s bed.

“The entire thing is about me!” He laughs as he reaches in his drawers to try to find some sweats for the plane. “I planned it!”

“Which is why we’re up at 4 am.” Emery reminds him. Niall sticks his tongue out at her quickly before shutting the bathroom door. As he changes and gets a quick shave in, his mind wanders to planning this trip a few months ago.

For as long as he can remember, Niall had always had a plan of doing his 30th birthday in Vegas. It was supposed to be a big, extravagant affair with all of his closest friends. Yet, as he approached the big 3-0, he started to see his friend circle dwindle. Some of his friends moved away, some got married and/or had kids, and others were so successful that they never had time to hang out anymore.

A year ago, he had decided to only do it with his girlfriend at the time, Jessie. They had been together for a year and a half at that point and nothing had seemed off, so Niall didn’t see any red flags in bringing up a trip together a year down the line.

But a mere four months after that, Jessie admitted to him that she had fallen in love with a coworker, had discussed it with him, and they both thought their relationship was worth a chance. Within two weeks, all her stuff was moved out of their shared apartment and it was almost like she had never been there to begin with.

Emery was the reason that he was able to move on, really. She’s his oldest friend that he is still in regular contact with. They had met during one of their classes together freshman year of college. At first, they were both too competitive and stubborn to be friends. They competed with each other to have the best grade and ended up sitting next to each other in each subsequent class in order to peer at the other’s papers for the chance to gloat.

But when they finally got stuck in a class that seemed to stump them both, they ended up getting close as they studied together to try to save their GPAs. After that experience, they became more like best friends and less like rivals.

After Jessie broke his heart, Emery took Niall under her wing and helped him get back to himself. She found things for them to do most nights so his mind wouldn’t wander to Jessie and, when he was finally ready to talk about it, she was there with hot chocolate while he got rid of the rest of the thoughts of his ex that plagued his mind.

That night, he had briefly mentioned the Vegas trip and, true to form, Emery latched onto the trip as something she realized NIall would regret not doing. She could tell it meant a lot to him and didn’t want his birthday to be spent pouting about what could have been if Jessie were still in his life.

So, a few days after that talk, Emery sent him a spreadsheet with different airlines, including costs and any layovers, as well as lodging options for Vegas. Within a week, Niall had picked from her list everything that he wanted, which YES, as she liked to remind him included some cost cutting measures like an early flight.

Niall packs up his toiletries as he rubs his eyes, regretting the early flight already. “Only a few hours and we’ll be in Vegas!”

“Vegas BABY!” Emery laughs as she throws her hair up in a slightly greasy bun. “Honestly, I’m glad you agreed to do this trip just us. I think it’ll be fun. Just like our college days.”

“Getting sappy on me, Roches?” Emery rolls her eyes, both at Niall accusing her of being sappy and for using her last name.

“Never. I am emotionless.” She says with a straight face as she pushes her suitcase up on its wheels. “Now enough feelings talk, can we get this day started?”

“Hell yeah!” Niall grabs his suitcase and the pair start their journey.

——

By the time they reach the hotel, Emery and Niall are ready to just crash. “Should be under Horan,” Niall says as he hands over his ID.

The worker, Faith, taps on the keyboard for a few seconds before smiling, “got your room right here. A standard room with a queen bed, checking in the 11th and checking out the 14th.” She rattles off as she goes to grab a key.

“Wait,” Emery stops her, “we booked a room with two doubles, not a queen.”

“Oh,” Faith says as she goes back to the computer. “I apologize about that. Let me see what we have available.” She looks through the open rooms, “it looks like the only rooms we have open with two beds are our two bedroom suites. We have a few available with king beds. For your three nights, it’ll end up being an additional $270.53.”

“We’re fine with the queen.” Niall interjects. He would prefer to have his own bed, but he’s not going to pay an additional $300 for a fancy suite that they’re just going to sleep in.

Faith smiles as she takes Niall’s card for incidentals and then hands them their room key. “Thank you for choosing to stay with us. Enjoy your vacation!”

Emery and Niall take their baggage to the elevator and Emery shakes her head, “ok, I was totally open to you getting to really enjoy your birthday. You know, spend extra time at the bar if you wanted to take a girl back. But if we’re sleeping in the same bed? You’re going to be celibate for the next three nights.”

Niall laughs loudly as they make their way to their room. “Don’t worry. we decided to do this trip together. I wasn’t planning on getting a birthday present like THAT here.”

“Well good, because it’s definitely not going to happen now unless you wanna spend an extra $300 on a room.” The pair make their way to their room and Niall opens his suitcase and starts meticulously putting his clothes in the drawers provided while Emery hops on the bed.

“At least it’s comfy in here. Glad I talked you out of staying at the Travelodge.”

Niall laughs and rolls his eyes, “god I’m not THAT cheap. I just saved money where we could.” He finishes putting his underwear in the drawers and smiles, “speaking of, we can totally use the $60 we saved on the plane tickets for the buffets. I saw plenty of articles about the best ones here. Thought we could find out ourselves which one is truly the best in Vegas.”

“Jesus Niall, we’re only here for three days, how many buffets do you plan to hit up?”

Niall scrunches his nose as he thinks, “well, three meals a day right? So we can do 9? Two left today, three tomorrow and Sunday, and one on Monday before the plane.”

Emery laughs and tosses one of the pillows at Niall, “you’re such an idiot.”

“Yeah, but I’m your idiot,” Niall jokes, batting his eyelashes, which causes Emery to toss the other pillow at him. Niall’s laugh comes from his belly as he puts the pillows back on the bed. “For real though, lunch? Please?”

——-

The few days the pair is in Vegas is spent taking in everything the city has to offer. They gave themselves a small chunk of change to gamble with, had tickets to a show during Saturday matinee, went clubbing each night and, of course, made time to enjoy the buffets. Although definitely not three times a day, like Niall suggested.

Sunday, though, is the day they both waited for. It’s Niall’s birthday and Emery wanted to make sure it was the best birthday he ever had. She’d been worried most of the trip that Niall’s thoughts would be preoccupied with Jessie. This was meant to be a trip with her and the last thing Emery wanted was his actual birthday being a downer because of his ex.

One of Niall’s gifts was a blind-tasting experience. The entire restaurant is pitch black and the servers put food in front of them and only after eating each item are they told what they’re eating.

It’s a cool experience and Niall enjoys getting to taste different foods and see what his taste buds remember and what new tastes are familiar to him. As they walk out of the experience, bellies full of food, their talk quickly turns to their night.

Even though it’s Sunday, both have been wanting to do an extravagant night for Niall’s birthday. Niall searched twitter to find the hottest club currently in Vegas and Emery did her best to secure a vip booth. She had to pay significantly more than she planned, but she knows it’s worth it once her and Niall make their way into the club at 11.

The music is pounding and Emery can just make Niall out between flashes of light from the dance floor as they head to their booth. Niall immediately cracks open one of the bottles of beer waiting for them. “To being 30!”

“Not that I’ll know for another four months,” Emery jokes as she clinks her beer bottle with his. Niall shakes his head, laughing, before finishing off his beer. “Come on, let’s get something a bit stronger. Really celebrate, huh?”

“I’ve already got a tab open, just tell them booth 112.” Niall nods and heads to the bar. As he’s waiting for his rum and coke, a gorgeous girl comes up and starts pulling him to the dance floor.

Niall grabs his drink quickly before heading off with the girl. She’s trying to start a conversation with him, asking about why he’s in Vegas, even though Niall can’t hear her over the beat of the music. 

The girl tries to repeat herself a few times, each time getting a confused look from Niall before he nods his head in agreement to a question she didn’t ask before she gives up. She decides to just enjoy her night out and dances on him as the songs get progressively faster.

On the other side of the club, Emery spends a few minutes in the booth waiting for Niall, before deciding to venture to the dance floor as well. She grabs a Long Island from the bartender before she seamlessly works her way into the crowd, moving her hips to the music as she finds herself in the middle of the dance floor alone.

Niall happens to spot her a few feet from him after a few songs with the girl he’d met at the bar. Emery is dancing alone and he always worries about leaving her alone when she’s been drinking. Emery is a gorgeous girl and he knows that some people would try to take advantage of her when her guards are down.

He excuses himself from his current dance partner to make his way to his best friend. Emery’s eyes are closed as she sways to the music, but they happen to open as Niall makes his way over to her. The smile that forms, brightening her entire face, when she sees him causes his heart to beat a bit faster than normal.

He shakes it off, knowing that it’s probably just a reaction from the alcohol as he motions asking Emery to dance. She smiles and in an instant is pressed against Niall’s chest, her hips moving expertly against his.

They dance flushed against each other for a few songs before Emery motions to her feet, sore from dancing with heels on for so long. Niall laughs and leads the way back to their booth to rest.

Most of the night is spent grabbing drinks and making trips to the dance floor, coming back to sit every few songs with Emery needs a break. “I think I’m ready to go,” Niall finally mentions to Emery around 3, his tired body finally catching up with his brain.

As soon as they leave the hot club, the cool night air hits their faces, waking them both up a bit. “Thanks for coming with me…. I really appreciate it.” Niall finally says, breaking their silent walk back to the hotel.

“Of course, although honestly it was a bit selfish. Always wanted to come to Vegas.” Emery laughs. “Glad I got to do it with you.”

“No one else I’d rather come here with.” The too-many drinks causes him to be more honest than he would normally. Niall’s used to bundling his feelings close to his chest, but something about the night allows him to be more open.

“Then I’m glad we could make this work,” Emery smiles, reaching her hand out for Niall’s. Their eyes meet briefly as a smile forms on each of their faces as their pace slows.

“You really made turning 30 less devastating that i thought it’d be,” Niall admits, “you know, I always kind of had this plan I’d be married by now. I know it’s dumb because I’ve realized as I’ve gotten older that 30 is really nothing. But I can’t shake the feeling that I’m late. Jessie kind of came around at the perfect time where I could see me meeting that goal. But now…. I don’t know. It’s hard to shake that feeling. Is that completely dumb?” Niall’s mouth moves a million miles a minute as he avoids her eyes. It’s only once he finishes that he allows himself to look at her, worried to find pity or judgement in her eyes. Instead, he’s met with understanding.

“My sister had her child at 21. Every family gathering, I can see all of my aunts and uncles giving me looks. You know, the ones that say that I’m going to die alone because I’m not married by now. I’m 29, I have my whole life ahead of me, but I still just feel like I’m nothing but a disappointment because I’m not married or had kids yet. And I don’t know if I ever will.” Emery admits for the first time aloud.

“What? Why do you think never?” Niall’s shocked at Emery’s confession. They’ve known each other for most of their adult lives. Niall feels like he knows most of her insecurities: the things that she likes to pretend don’t bother her. But this is a new one to him. Emery, despite her boy crazy moments, has never been one to jump into relationships or seem to put much stock in needing to find someone. He half expected his confession to be met with an eye roll and a “marriage is just a piece of paper, Horan.” Instead, he feels like he’s being allowed into this whole other part of her.

Emery sighs, halting her step. Niall stops as well, moving close to her as she confesses. “I think it’s just as we get older, the ability to meet people organically becomes harder and harder. I’m worried that since I didn’t find someone at what? 23? I never will.”

Niall wanted to protest, but what she said makes sense. He nods along to her reasoning, “I mean, yeah. I get what you’re saying. Like after a certain point, meeting someone either involves dating sites or a miracle.”

Emery laughs as she leans against Niall, starting to walk towards the hotel again. “And finding someone worth pursuing on a dating site also involves a miracle.”

Niall’s loud cackle could probably be heard a mile away as the pair walk arm in arm down the street. As silence befalls them, Niall’s mind can’t help but think that doing this with her forever would be nice. They get along well, he feels comfortable with her in a way he hasn’t any of his other friends. Before he can stop himself, he asks, “what if we got married?”

A small, scared laugh escapes Emery’s mouth as she has to pause from the shock. “I’m sorry?”

“Yeah, I mean, we’re best friends. Imagine doing this weekend but forever back home.” Niall offers. Emery’s face is still full of shock as she tries to process her best friend proposing to her.

“So you just want to get married and then figure us out later?” Emery tries to reason through the shock and vodka coursing through her veins.

“Well, more like get married and just continue to be as we are. Just together. Don’t they say you should marry your best friend? Well… you’re mine.”

Niall’s eyes search Emery’s face and when her eyes meet his, they both know what’s about to happen. “You’re my best friend too Niall.” She holds her hand out and Niall takes it and gives hers a squeeze.

“Great, I think I saw a chapel a few blocks back.” Niall says, trying to find the last place he saw where they could get married.

“Now? You want to get married now?” Emery laughs, despite herself. She’s met with a nod and a “might as well. It’s Vegas right?”

“Can’t argue with that logic,” she laughs as Niall maps the nearest chapel and they make their way on foot there. Even late at night, the place is still open.

“Welcome to Las Vegas Romantic Chapel. How can I help you today?” The worker behind the desk asks, starting to fill out a form for the couple that just entered.

“I’d like to marry my best friend please!” Niall says, “now, if possible!”

“That is what we do here,” the worker relies, monotonically. He gets their IDs and fills out a quick marriage license for them while Niall and Emery go through the packages offered.

“Oh, I like this one. It comes with a framed wedding photo. We obviously have to have something to commemorate this!” Emery points to one of the pricier options. Niall shrugs off the $127 price tag, figuring it’s a bargain as far as weddings go. “Whatever my wife wants, my wife gets.”

A short 45 minute wait later, and Emery is walking down the aisle in a veil she borrowed from the chapel and the dress she’d worn to the club.

The officiant leads the couples through their vows, both of them slurring slightly as the alcohol and lack of sleep starts to affect them. Once they finish, Niall kisses Emery for the first time in his life. Even though they’ve been friends through most of college, they never shared even a drunken kiss.

As their lips meet, they both feel their pulse quicken slightly and blood rush to their cheeks. Something about their kiss feels wrong, like they shouldn’t be doing it, but also, weirdly, right in a way neither expected.

As they part slowly, the bright flash of the camera causes them to curse and rub at their eyes. “Sorry folks, wanted to make sure you got a good picture. Had to use the flash.” The desk worker, who is also apparently the photographer, explains. “You guys can just sign the certificate while I print out your picture.”

Twenty minutes later, the newly minted married couple finishes their walk to their hotel with marriage license and picture frame in hand.

——

“God, why did you let me drink so much?” Niall groans as he heads to the bathroom. His head is pounding from the drinks from the night before. He downs two aspirin, hoping they’ll work their magic quickly. He heads back out to the bed to find Emery face down, still snoring away.

Both of them are still in their clothes from the night before. A lot of the night is fuzzy in his mind, so he assumes they probably passed out before they could get in their pajamas.

Suddenly glad that he didn’t opt for the 6 am flight home, Niall falls back into bed, where he stays until a few hours later when he’s awoken to Emery tapping furiously on his shoulder.

“What is it? If you’re waking me up just to kill a spider again, I won’t be your friend anymore.” Niall mumbles, his head still in the bed.

Emery, holding the picture frame in her hand and coming face to face with proof that not only did her and Niall get married last night, but they also kissed, continues to tap on Niall’s shoulder. The shock of what she’s seeing has silenced her.

Niall finally lifts his head up and it takes a few moments for his eyes to adjust before he sits up quickly. Suddenly, some of their conversation early this morning comes back to him. “Shit shit shit…. did we actually get married?!”

Niall immediately grabs his phone, cursing himself for forgetting to charge it overnight as the 20% low battery warning pops up at him. He clicks out of it as he goes to google. He searches, hoping that somehow a Vegas marriage certificate isn’t official and they can pretend they weren’t two idiots who got married in Vegas.

He drops his phone as he realizes that what they did before they crashed into bed this morning wasn’t something they could wave away and potentially tell for jokes at a party.

Niall’s eyes finally meet Emery’s, the shock in his eyes mirrored in hers. “Looks like we’re actually married.”

Emery’s shoulders collapse as she realizes that this isn’t a dream and they need a game plan on how to get out of this. “Guess we’ll have a lot to discuss on the plane ride tonight.”


	2. Something New

Emery and Niall are silent as they pack their bags for their flight. Both of them know a big talk is coming, but neither know how to start it or, really, what they want to say either.

It’s not until they’re past security and stopped at one of the Starbucks on the way to their terminal that Emery finally decides to bring it up. “So… we’re married.”

Niall laughs, “Yeah, guess we are, Mrs. Horan.” Emery shakes her head immediately, “For the record, I will be keeping my own name. I am Emery Roches, not Horan or any other last name.”

“Fair enough,” Niall mutters as he pulls apart the croissant he purchased, avoiding her eyes. He doesn’t know what he expected from this conversation, but his worst fear is that this is going to ruin their friendship. Emery’s really been his rock for the past several years and he likes to think that he’s been anything close to as good of a friend to her as she’s been to him.

“Also for the record… I’m not mad or anything about what happened last night. I know it was a dumb choice we both made. I don’t think you like forced me into it or anything.” Emery sighs, wanting to get that out of the way. Something about his body language tells her that he needs that reassurance. Once it’s out of her mouth, she’s glad she mentioned it because his shoulders seem to soften as some of the stress of what this talk would lead to washes away.

“So do you not remember anything about it?” Niall asks, “I didn’t think you had drank that much last night. I mean, I feel like I shouldn’t talk because I was drunk enough to propose to someone I hadn’t had a romantic relationship with.”

Emery laughs and shakes her head, “I mean, I had to get drunk to get over how much all those drinks you put on my tab were. You don’t even want to know how much that bill ended up costing.”

Niall laughs, but keeps his gaze and attention on the croissant in his hand. He pulls a piece apart multiple times until it’s basically just crumbs.

“Horan, you’re stressing me out. What’s going on in that big old head of yours?”

“My head’s not big.” Niall mutters before sighing and focusing on a spot just beyond Emery’s head as he admits, “We decided to get married because we felt like we’d disappointed our families by not being married already… I mean, we’re best friends, right? Know everything bout each other. We could be great together. And it could get our families off our backs….”

Emery reaches and touches Niall’s hand. It causes Niall to look straight into her eyes as Emery asks what she’s scared of the answer, “are you saying you want us to stay married?”

Niall nods, “I know it’s crazy, but if anyone could make it work, I figure we can.”

Emery sighs and sits back in her chair. “Let me think about it, ok?” It’s absolutely crazy, right? But she has to admit, it would be nice to not have to worry about dating anymore. But being married also comes with some other expectations that she’s not quite sure about. Niall’s an attractive guy, sure. If she’s being honest with herself, he’s probably one of the hottest guys she’s ever seen, with his shaggy brunette hair and piercing blue eyes. But they’re also best friends and in their several years of knowing each other, she doesn’t think she’s once thought seriously about being intimate with him until now.

“Niall. You know, if you wanted a reason to kiss me, could have just asked.” Emery jokes, trying to lighten the mood. Niall just shakes his head and grabs one of the pieces of bread and tosses it at her, “absolutely hate you, don’t know why we’re friends.”

——

The plane ride is surprisingly easy for them. Both were scared that things would be awkward when they’re stuffed in small seats next to each other, but they easily fall into their old pattern. They play games on the screen on the back of the chair in front of them the entire four hour flight back, letting their competitive spirits get the best of them.

Once back in Chicago, they head back to their respective apartments. Emery, lucky enough to have snagged an apartment with in-suite laundry starts a load. Normally, Niall would probably be pounding at her door to try to get a load in as well. He’s much too worried about cleanliness to take his clothes to a laundromat so he instead drags it the few blocks to Emery’s place each week.

Usually, Emery doesn’t mind, but today she’s glad to have the time away from Niall. She’s ready to do what she’s been dreading- tell someone about the stupid decision they’d made.

Niall’s the person she would go to with big decisions that she was unsure about. Every job change, he was right there behind her, helping her decide if the new job was worth the move. He’s helped her look at apartments when her old landlord decided to up her rent by almost $400 and even helped her move.

But this isn’t something she can discuss with him. Niall’s made it clear that he’s wanting to stay together. But Emery’s not sure. Yeah, it’d be nice to not worry about dating and she had imagined her parents reactions when she told them she was finally married. Yet, she felt like if she agreed to this, she’d be giving up on the prospect of a real love.

Emery quickly calls one of her best friends, Maeve. The pair have been close since they were kids. Growing up, Maeve knew everything that happened in Emery’s life. As they got older and life happened, they stopped talking about day-to-day experiences, but they’ve tried their best to stay in touch regularly and they know all the big developments in the other’s life.

When Maeve picks up, Emery just blurts out, “I did something stupid and need advice.” She hears her old friend’s deep groan as she sits down, “is this friend advice or lawyer advice?”

Emery laughs, “don’t worry, if I were going to ask you to be my lawyer, I’d be a little more professional about it.”

Maeve’s small chuckle calms Emery’s nerves. She knows that her friend would never judge her for her mistakes. She’s disagreed with them multiple times, they’ve had fights over some of the more sordid choices Emery’s made, but in the end, Maeve was always her rock and she trusts her.

“Niall and I got married this weekend.”

“Woah woah woah woah, you guys got married?!” Maeve squeals, “please tell me it’s because he finally made a move. I’ve been telling you for ages you needed to get with him.”

“Maeve!!” Emery groans, “it’s not like that! It wasn’t a I’m into you let’s get married decision. It was more of a….” Emery sighs, trying to think of the right words to describe their situation, “I’m tired of being alone and you’re my best friend so why not? Decision.”

“Ah…” the other line quiets and Emery’s mind is filled with the anxiety of what her friend is going to say next. When Maeve speaks, Emery chews on her bottom lip as she takes it in, “you know, I really do think you guys always had something special. And maybe you were just really really good friends, but if you’re considering trying something, I think it might be a good choice for you. Bit unconventional way to admit you like each other, sure, but you could have married a stranger.”

Emery laughs, “I don’t think you’re realizing the type of relationship that Niall’s proposing… he wants us to stay married, but stay friends. I don’t think either of us wants something like that.”

“Em, you know I’ve always thought he was into you. I’ve caught him checking you out a few times.” Emery laughs, “Maeve! I swear, Niall and I have been friends for almost a decade. I’ve checked him out a time or two as well. Doesn’t mean I’ve been pining over him!”

“I didn’t say pining!” Maeve retorts, “I’m just saying, I think there’s a reason you two aren’t just jumping into annulling the marriage, which could be done pretty easily as long as you two didn’t consummate the marriage. Did you guys…”

“No, Niall and I did not have sex!” Emery laughs, knowing her friend was probably finding the right time to fish for the answer to that question.

Her friend’s soft laughter fills the phone, “such a shame.”

Emery shakes her head, “think that’s enough out of you for today! I’ll talk to you later?”

“Of course. Keep me updated on what you decide. I just want what’s best for you.”

“You too, Maeve.” The friends share their goodbyes as Emery heads back to her laundry. She pauses as she finds the picture of her wedding between two dresses. Emery sighs as she takes in the picture. Sure, they were both drunk, but there’s something in their faces that she thinks is probably worth pursuing. She puts the frame up on one of her shelves and sighs.

“This is so dumb,” Emery tells herself as she texts Niall, “I’m not saying yes… but I’m not saying no. Can you come round mine and we can discuss it?”

“Be right there. Is your washer open?” Emery shakes her head, figuring that Niall was waiting for the chance to ask to come do his laundry. “it’s occupied, but you can use it next load.”

——

Niall comes over with a bag full of dirty clothes. “You know, if we decide to stay married, I could move in and not have to traipse my laundry through the streets every week.”

Emery gasps, “Niall James Horan! Did you marry me just for my washing machine?!”

Niall laughs and wiggles his eyebrows, “caught on to my evil plan, didn’t ya! An in-suite laundry in Chicago? Worth marriage.”

Emery laughs and shakes her head. She heads into the kitchen to start a pot of tea for them both. “So. I guess moving in? That’s probably the first thing we have to do right?”

Niall bites his lip, “I mean, most married couples do live together yeah… plus, it’d be nice if we could save money, only have one rent payment. We’d both be able to save money. Like in college when we lived with 5 roommates, but more adult-y.”

“Adult-y?!” Emery quotes him and laughs, “such a 30 year old.”

“Hey!” Niall huffs. “You know what I’m saying!”

“Would be nice to save some more…. I’m guessing you want to move in here for the washer?” Niall nods, “sure do! That’s the main perk of marriage isn’t it?”

Emery rolls her eyes as the kettle starts steaming. She pours them each a cup of hot water and grabs the two kinds of tea bags from her cupboard. Niall and her have different tastes, so Emery always keeps a spare box of his favorite tea at hers just in case. She knows from the times she’s gone round to his that he’s done the same for her. Emery pauses for just a second as she takes that in. In some ways, maybe they do already have the foundation for a good marriage set up. 

“Ok, so you’re moving in here then. When’s your lease up?” Emery hands him his tea and they head back towards her couch. 

“Next month, actually.” It’s almost like the perfect time to move. Niall could get settled here, clean the apartment and turn the keys in without being stressed that he’s not going to get it done.

Emery nods, “So let’s shoot to get you moved in then.” She swirls her teabag in the water, watching as the black seeps from the bag and colors the water. “What about….” she coughs, “I mean, you know…. married couples do things that friends normally don’t.”

Niall’s cheeks turn red and he coughs, trying to avoid the awkwardness of this conversation. “I mean… yeah. But we don’t have to! I mean, we definitely can if you want to. I want to. But I’m also fine if you don’t.”

They meet each other’s eyes, both of them red as a crab as they bust out laughing. “God, that really is the most unsexy way to have that conversation isn’t it?” Niall laughs.

In an instant, their hesitations melt from them and Niall speaks up again, “for real, I know that’s a big step for us. I’m cool with us just figuring it out as we go. I’m sure there’s plenty of couples that are married but haven’t had sex.”

Emery laughs, “Pretty sure we might be the only one. Us and Danielle and Mohamed from 90 Day Fiancée.”

“I’ve got absolutely no idea who you’re talking about,” Niall laughs, “and I hope to keep it that way.”

He’s met with a head shake, “sorry, but if we’re married, you’re going to have to watch my trashy reality tv with me. You’ll know all about them soon.”

Niall groans, “guess it’s worth it for the laundry.” Emery gasps and pushes him, “hate you!”

“Love you too,” Niall responds. He wraps his arm around her as they settle into the couch to talk more about whatever their arrangement is. He finds his eyes catching on the picture from their wedding, which Emery had already gotten set up before he arrived. Even though this is completely non-traditional, he can see it working out between them.


	3. Meet the Parents

The first weekend after the newlyweds get back from Vegas, they spend the entire time moving all of Niall’s stuff into Emery’s place.

They’ve hung out at each other’s place so many times that there’s not any fights about what to keep and what to get rid of. They keep Emery’s bed because she only got it when she moved in a year ago and Niall’s had his since his first apartment after college. Niall splurged on a huge couch when he got his first raise, so they sell Emery’s and move Niall’s into the living room.

It’s almost unbelievable how easy it is to mesh their lives together. But, they’ve hung out together at least once a week for the past 10 years. They know each other well enough to know what’s important to the other and what they can get rid of.

Emery enjoys the chance to clean out her stuff as well. She has a one bedroom, so everything she owns took up most of her storage space. While Niall works on moving boxes into the apartment, Emery folds her summer clothes into storage containers and tosses out items she doesn’t use.

By the end of the weekend, most of Niall’s stuff is moved in. “Guess we’re really doing this now, huh?” Niall laughs as he lays on the couch. He knows he needs a shower from all the work he did, but his body is going to collapse under him if he doesn’t get a small rest in first.

“Yeah, guess we are,” Em laughs, “should probably start telling people soon huh?”

“Hmm?” Niall lifts his tired head from the couch, “you haven’t told anyone yet?”

“I mean, I told Maeve. She’s the one who convinced me to give this a shot. Have you? Figured we’d discuss it first.”

Niall groans as he rolls onto his back. “I told my parents last week. They’re excited. Mom should be mailing us a wedding present. Actually, she did want to talk to us when you had a chance. Told her we were moving and might be a while, so no rush on it.”

“No, we can call her tonight,” Emery smiles. Niall nods, “cool, let me shower first and we can.” He forces himself to get up and head to their now shared bathroom. As Emery hears the shower run, she sighs and goes to her own family’s contact information in her phone. She hasn’t told her parents yet. Honestly, she’s a little scared they’ll see right through the charade: realize that her and Niall aren’t really into each other, and she’ll just continue to disappoint them. 

Emery has tried most of her life to be good enough for them. She thinks she’s created a good life for herself, yet she never seems to be enough. Every time she visits, which is normally just for her parent’s birthdays and holidays, she receives a “tsk tsk” from her mom when she confirms that she’s still not seriously dating someone and whenever she interacts with her nieces and nephews, she knows that soon enough, one of her parents will ask her when she’s going to have kids of her own.

Emery’s caught in her own head, her hand hovering over her mother’s contact information when Niall comes back from his shower, with his hair wet and unbrushed and just wearing a pair of sweats. “Ready?”

“Yep!” Em laughs, putting a smile on her face as she puts her phone to the side and leans up against Niall so her face is in the line of his phone camera as his mom picks up.

“Mommy!” Niall exclaims when it shows she’s picked up. He leans up and kisses the camera and smiles, “missed you. Thought me and my wife would give you a call!” Niall tries his best to not beam as he calls Emery his wife. It still feels a bit weird to say, but the more he says it, the nicer it feels. It almost has a natural ring to it.

“Hey Maura,” Emery smiles. “Nice to see you again.” It’d be an overstatement to say they know each other. They’ve met maybe a handful of times, normally when they would travel here for a big event in Niall’s life, like his graduation.

“You too, dear. I was shocked when Niall called and told me you two got married. He never even mentioned you were dating!”

“He didn’t?” She gives Niall a stern look, trying not to laugh, “What’s that say about me, that you never told your mom the entire time we were dating?”

“Well, married ya didn’t I? I’m clearly serious bout ya.” He laughs and flicks Em on the hip where his mom can’t see.

“Oh, I didn’t mean to start anything!” Maura laughs, “I’m glad to hear that you guys are working out, I know you’ve been friends forever. And I don’t want to take too much of your time, I know you two are newlyweds and want some time alone in your new place.”

Both Niall and Emery visibly cringe at her suggestion that they’re about to fuck, but his mom continues without noticing, “I just wanted to call and see if Em was planning on coming for Christmas? I know we’re still three months out, but Niall purchased his ticket back in May and we want to try to plan maybe a small reception if you’ll both be here.”

“Oh!” Emery exclaims, “I didn’t even think about that.” It makes sense. Niall’s gone back home almost every winter since he’s been in the states, save for a few times when he couldn’t afford it or the weather didn’t allow flights out of Chicago. “Um, it sounds fun. Let me get with Niall and my parents and we can let you know?”

“Sounds great dear. Well, it was nice seeing you both. Please call whenever, it’d be nice to get to know Niall’s wife a bit more. Oh, and I’m not sure if Niall remembered to mention, but I’ve put a wedding gift in the mail for you both. You should be receiving it in a couple weeks.”

“He did remember! Thank you, that’s so sweet of you, but you really didn’t have to get us anything.”

“We wanted to,” she smiles, “thanks for the call. Love you both.” Maura clicks off and Emery and Niall both breath a sigh of relief that she didn’t seem to have many questions for them. The call went really well and it encourages Emery to set up a meeting with her own parents.

——

It’s two weeks before Niall and Emery can make it to her parents’ place. In that time, the couple fall into a natural rhythm. The only person that really knows the real reason they’re married is Maeve.

There was never a discussion to lie about it, but it became natural for them to go along with everyone’s assumptions that they’re a real couple. Not many people’s first thoughts at hearing that they’re newlyweds is that they went straight from friends to married.

Most of their friends know now and Niall’s coworkers know, only because they decided to throw him a birthday dinner once they got back from Vegas and Niall casually introduced Emery as his wife.

All of the reactions they’ve received have been good and it’s got Emery feeling confident that her parents are going to react the same way. They’ve been hounding her to get married since she was twenty, she’s pretty sure this is going to be the best news she could tell them.

“You ok?” Niall’s deep voice pulls Emery out of her thoughts as his hand finds hers. “Nervous?”

Em nods, “a little… but I’m sure it’ll be great. They’re going to be so happy I’m finally married.” She tries to laugh the pain off. It hurts her that none of her accomplishments have gotten much of her parent’s attention or adoration.

Niall squeezes her hand and smiles, “It’s okay to talk to me. That’s what a husband is for.”

“Nothing to talk about, Ni,” Emery smiles, trying her best to get her anxious thoughts out of her mind. “Tonight is going to be great, right?”

“Of course it will.” He reassures her, giving her hand another squeeze. Before they know it, they’re pulling into Emery’s parent’s driveway.

Niall gets out of the car and retucks his shirt into his fitted trousers. He’s trying to be strong for Em, but he’s nervous to meet his in-laws. Niall’s met them before, a few times, but it’s clearly different when you’re about to tell them that you married their daughter.

He takes a deep breath before placing a smile back on his face as he goes to support Em. He places his hand on the small of her back and leads her to the door. “It’s going to work out.” He tells her, one last time as her mom answers the door.

“Hey Mami.” Em kisses her mom on the cheek, “you remember Niall? Niall, my mom, Luticia.” She smiles, hoping that since they’ve known each other for so long, her parents won’t be so surprised that they’re married and won’t ask questions.

“Of course, boyfriend from college right?” She questions, hugging Niall. “Let’s go in the living room? I’m sure you have something to tell us.” Luticia and her husband, Ben, both thought that their daughter must be pregnant. She usually only visits a couple of times a year and never with a man. They’re almost expecting the news.

Niall makes sure to shake Ben’s hand and reintroduces himself. It seems both of them remember him somewhat, which eases his nerves. As soon as they sit down, Em’s parents ask, “So? Why the surprise visit?”

Niall takes Em’s hands in his and lets her take the lead. “Mami, Daddy. Niall and I are married. We eloped a few weeks ago.”

“Oh my gosh! I’m so proud!” Her mom exclaims, “I knew you’d snag a good man, I was starting to worry. You’re definitely reaching a certain age.”

Em’s smile is almost painted on as she tries not to show how that simple comment feels like a slap in the face. “Yeah, Niall’s amazing, I’m so lucky.” She leans into him, hoping to ease her nerves.

“And? Are you pregnant?” Ben asks, jumping straight to the point, “an elopement for a pregnancy?”

“Uhhh, no. We’re definitely not pregnant.” Em laughs. Niall and her haven’t even kissed beyond their wedding one, so they definitely have no chance of being pregnant at the moment.

“Tsk.” The sound of her mom’s disapproval is painful as Leticia continues, “then why did you elope? Couldn’t have a real wedding? Thought a perk of your job in the city was that you could have money, but you chose a cheap quicky wedding?”

Niall clears his throat, “Well, we hope to have a real wedding too.” He smiles, trying to help Em out. “I just turned 30 a few weeks ago and realized that I didn’t want to spend another year without the love of my life.” Em’s fingers tighten around Niall’s as he talks, a silent thank you.

“Ah, I get it. I mean, thirty without being married is a bit old. And I’m assuming you’ll have kids soon. Emery’s not getting any younger, she’s probably only got a couple years left to conceive.”

“Well, we’re happy as a family now, even if we don’t end up having kids, we’ll be fine.” Niall tries, but he realizes immediately that he said the wrong thing.

“Never have kids? You can’t be serious, Emery, you know how great you are with Leena’s kids. You’d be a great mother, you can’t seriously be thinking about not having kids.”

Emery clears her throat, “of course we’re thinking about having kids, mom. Niall just misspoke.”

Unfortunately, that doesn’t stop her mom, who talks throughout most of dinner about having kids and when they should start planning. It’s uncomfortable for both Niall and Emery and as they’re saying their goodbyes, Emery is glad she’s thought ahead enough to stay at Maeve’s for the night.

As they start their short drive, both are silent. It didn’t go as well as either hoped. Emery hates that she got her hopes up that her parents would be happy about her choices for once, because now she’s crushed.

She tries to stop them, but tears just spring out of her eyes. “Shit, Em you ok?” Niall asks, shocked that she’s crying in the passenger seat. He puts his hazard lights on and pulls over. Once he’s sure that traffic’s safe, he goes to her door and hops in, pulling her onto his lap.

Emery cries into his shoulder, “I don’t know why I believed they’d actually be proud of me for once. Like they’ve been hounding me forever about getting married and it’s still not enough.”

Niall softly rubs her hair as her words turn to sobs. “I’m so sorry, Em. I didn’t think I’d get them started when I mentioned us being happy without kids. I was just trying to help.”

“I know, Ni. I appreciate you coming here with me.”

Niall smiles and rubs her back, “of course. You’re my wife, I’ll always be here for you.”

Em pulls away from his chest and her eyes meet his. “Thanks, Niall. I’ll always be here for you too.” All of Em’s thoughts focus on kissing Niall. Now seems like it’d be the perfect time. She wants to just go for it, but a small thought in the back of her head stops her.

As her mind is preoccupied, Niall pulls her back to him and kisses her forehead. “We should get back on the road. You ok love?”

“Yeah, I am. Thanks Ni.” Niall pulls himself out of the passenger seat and goes back around the car. He uses the moment outside to take a deep breath. Em and him have been friends for almost a decade but just now it hits him how much he really loves her. He saw her break down and all he wanted to do was shield her from any pain and make things better.

Navigating the ins and outs so far have been a little difficult. They’re married, but Niall knows that this part of their relationship is new. He doesn’t want to rush into anything, so he’s been letting Em take the reins on how fast they move. The problem is, Em doesn’t initiate anything.

Niall gets back in the driver seat and smiles, “It’ll be okay. Promise.” He puts his hand in her lap and Em pulls it between both of hers the entire ride to Maeve’s.

——

Emery wipes her eyes and tries her best to look like she hasn’t been crying, but Maeve knows her friend too well and can immediately see through it. She hugs her as soon as she’s in the door. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Emery shakes her head, “nope, I just want to hang out with you.”

“Well, thankfully, I planned ahead since I know how your parents can be. I’ve got everything ready in the kitchen for us to make cookies.”

Back in high school, cookie making sessions became their form of therapy. Whenever someone broke their heart or they got a bad grade on a test they really studied for or when they received rejection letters from colleges, they would meet at one of their houses and bake cookies.

The technical part of baking cookies distracted them enough to keep their thoughts off their disappointment, the 10 minute baking time was just enough for a deep heart to heart discussion, and every heartbreak can be healed by sweets.

“You’re honestly the best friend ever.” Emery wraps her arms tightly around Maeve’s waist, “I love you so much.”

“Love you too, Em.” Maeve smiles and turns to Niall, “and nice to see you again, Mr. Emery.”

Niall laughs, “I kind of like the way that sounds.”

Maeve leads the couple to her kitchen, where she’s got a ton of ingredients on her island. “So I didn’t know what kind of cookies you’d want. I know snickerdoodles are your favorites, so of course I have cinnamon. Also grabbed chocolate chips and peanut butter.”

“Honestly, might have to divorce this one and marry you,” Emery jokes.

“I’d be understanding,” Niall laughs as he washes his hands. “Clearly she treats you better than I do.”

“Yeah, remember that.” Em laughs.

Maeve and Emery take charge of measuring all the ingredients out. Niall is tasked with mixing everything in a bowl. He’s definitely not as technical as the two girls, plus he’s not going to complain about his task since both girls complimented his bicep, saying of course he should mix, since he has the strength to do it well.

Niall’s a simple lad, toss him a compliment and he’ll do whatever dirty work you ask of him. He was also kind enough to ignore the masturbation joke aimed at him about why his arm is so big, even though both girls dissolved into giggles about it.

While they make the dough, the kitchen is silent. There’s too many things to measure and a lot can go wrong if you’re distracted.

But once the cookies are measured out on a cookie sheet, Emery and Maeve sit on the floor as the entire dinner’s events are shared.

Niall knows that Em needs this time with her friend, so he conveniently excuses himself for a bathroom break before laying on the couch in the living room to give them time to chat.

In the kitchen, Emery is already feeling better after venting about what happened. Both girls know that it’s not a good situation, but there’s nothing either can say to really make things better.

Much like their talks in high school, they realize that nothing about their cookie baking is going to magically fix the problem. Instead, it just gives them an outlet to express their frustration, deal with their pain, and continue on with their life.

By the time the oven goes off, the friends have moved on from venting to laughing and reminiscing on their memories from childhood. The ding of the timer pulls them out of their past and they pull the cookies out of the oven.

Neither Emery or Maeve are known for their patience, so both pull cookies off the sheet and eat them without letting them cool.

“So good. We really need to do this more often,” Em laughs as she fans her mouth.

“Anytime you want. You know I’ll drive to your apartment with flour and cinnamon whenever you need me.” Maeve laughs, “I’m just a call away.” She knows Em’s the same for her. Even though they don’t talk every day, or even every week anymore, the friends are always a constant in each other’s life. No matter what stage of life they’ve been in, either Maeve or Emery will drop everything if the other is going through a crisis.

Em hugs Maeve and it’s only then that they realize they’re alone. “Where’s your husband at?” Maeve laughs. “Better not be stinking up my bathroom.”

Em laughs, “trust me, if he did that, I’d never be able to make it up to you.” The friends laugh as Em grabs a few cookies and they find Niall asleep on the couch.

“Wanna leave him down here?” Maeve asks, “Give us more room on the bed.”

“Tempting, but he’s going to be so sore if he sleeps on the couch.” Em leans down and runs her hand along his shoulder, “Niall, cookies are done.”

“Hmmm,” Niall wakes up sniffing, “smells good.” Em laughs and puts a piece of the cookie in his mouth. Niall groans as he sits up, “god, that’s delicious.”

“You knew it would be,” Maeve jokes. They all eat a few more cookies before heading up to Maeve’s bed. She’s got a king bed, so it’s perfect for all three to squeeze in for the night.

Niall falls back asleep quickly and the girls are thankful for the chance to talk about him. “So, you guys are together now huh?”

The smile that hits Emery’s face is enough to show Maeve that she’s actually really happy about it. “Yeah, we are. Still figuring things out but it’s really, really good right now.”

“Oh yeah? So the sex is good?”

“MAEVE!” Em laughs, trying her hardest to keep her voice down so she doesn’t wake Niall up. “We still haven’t… we haven’t even kissed.”

“What?! Are you serious? Why?!”

Em sighs. “I know it’s dumb since we’re married, but right now we haven’t really crossed that line, you know? Like yeah, we hold hands and we’re definitely more intimate than we used to be. But we haven’t really done anything we can’t take back…”

“Bitch you’re married!” Maeve laughs, “you can’t take that back! You’re already past the friends stage, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be taking full advantage of your hot ass husband.”

Em laughs, “god, you’re so horny all the time. It’s not all about how hot Niall is!”

“This definitely is,” Maeve laughs. The giggles of the two girls subside and Maeve decides to be serious, “honestly though, I know you’re scared. Almost all of your relationships, you’ve been ready to run before you got hurt. But you guys just seem good together and trust me, if I thought he’d hurt you, I’d be kicking his ass and reaming him through the coals before he even had a chance to think about it. But I don’t think he will and you should just allow yourself to be in it. If you don’t, you might end up losing it before you have a chance to enjoy it.”

Em smiles while her brain works on processing what her friend told her, “thanks Maeve…. you always know how to slap reality back into me.”

As their talk ends, Emery hears Maeve’s breathing slow. She tries her best to sleep as well, but after a while, she realizes she needs to go to the bathroom, which is difficult since she’s in the middle.

She expertly moves herself out of the bed and when she comes back, she notices that Niall’s awake. “Did I wake you? Didn’t mean to.”

“Well… yeah, you woke me up.” Niall laughs. “But I don’t mind.” He gets up and lets his wife back in the space in the middle.

As Niall lays back down, Emery wraps her arms around him. “Oh, you gonna be the big spoon of the relationship?” Niall jokes.

Em laughs and presses her lips into the back of his shoulder, “no, I much prefer being the little spoon. Just wanted to cuddle some tonight.”

“Well here.” Niall turns around and motions for Em to do the same so he can pull her to his chest. Emery runs her fingers through his and smiles. “I love you, Ni.”

“Mmm love you too.” He whispers into her back, his eyes already glazing back over.

“And I’m glad we got married. Really, really glad.”

Niall’s eyes fight the heavy feeling as he pulls her closer to him. “Me too. Best decision we’ve made.”

Em rubs her hand up his arm as the warmth from his body helps calm her mind and drift off. “The absolute best.”


	4. You May Now Kiss the Bride

After Niall and Emery return from her parent’s house, everything seems to change. While Emery had toyed with the idea of moving their relationship beyond friends before, she had been mostly content with how it had been progressing. She felt like being physical with Niall was something that was expected with the title of marriage rather than something she was sure she wholeheartedly wanted.

Now, though, kissing Niall is all Emery can think about. Each day, she mentally counts the number of times she wants to kiss him and the amount of missed moments add up quickly. Emery doesn’t quite know what’s stopping her. She’s kissed people she cared about a lot less than she does Niall. She never over thought kissing guys in bars she’d never see again, but with Niall, she just wants the kiss to be perfect.

They’ve known each other for 12 years and been friends for 10. It would be weird if their first kiss was just a random good morning one. Each time Emery’s thoughts are overcome with wanting to kiss Niall, there’s a little voice in the back of her head telling her that it isn’t the right time. The longer she waits, the more pressure there is on the first kiss.

Everything else about their changing relationship seems to work. They’ve made adjustments to allow each other further into their lives. Since Niall changed jobs last year, he only works a few blocks from Emery. His first day, the pair had met up at lunch to celebrate his new position. Since then, they’ve made it a habit to meet up once a week. However, after getting married, they’ve been seeing each other everyday for lunch.

In the month they’ve been married, Niall and Emery have gotten into a rhythm. They switch off on who makes the food in the mornings and then meet at the lunch maker’s building at noon.

Sometimes they’ll have leftovers from the night before, but normally they make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Grape jelly for Niall, Strawberry for Emery. Cut diagonally for Emery, a whole sandwich for Niall. Even though neither are particularly picky about their sandwiches, they care enough about the other to make it to their preferred specifications when it’s their turn to make lunch.

Today, Emery is so involved in work, that she doesn’t realize it’s lunchtime until her phone lights up with a text from Niall, “on my way, absolutely starving, looking forward to that pb&j.” She giggles and checks the clock on her office computer. It’s right at noon, so she locks her computer and grabs the lunch she made this morning.

She heads down to the small gathering area on the first floor of her building and by the time she finds a free table, Niall is coming into the building. He heads over and kisses his wife on the cheek, “hey babe.” Emery tries her best to smile and push away the thought telling her to just turn her head. Niall kisses her cheek quite often and it’s not lost on Emery how easy it would be for her to move slightly and allow them to have their first kiss. She knows once they jump that small hurdle, they’ll be free to be as physical as they want.

“Darlin’,” Em responds as she starts pulling out their lunch. They’ve settled into a nice routine and it doesn’t feel real to Em how easy it’s been to incorporate Niall into her life as a husband.

“So, you’ll never guess who contacted me this morning,” Niall starts. He got the Facebook message early this morning. After he had met Emery’s parents, they had changed their Facebook relationship status to married. They’d had a lot of old friends like and comment, but he wasn’t expecting to see the message from their old friend, Grace.

She was one of Niall’s coworkers at his first job. They had to work side by side on many projects and Grace had ended up coming to a few different events with Emery as well. Grace’s now husband, Mark, was actually one of Niall’s close friends from college and they had met on one of the group’s nights out.

As it happened, once the couple had gotten serious, their nights with the group became less frequent. At the time, Niall hadn’t really understood how people could get married and just stop seeing their friends as often as they used to. But Emery was one of Niall’s best friends and, as he’s started to realize over the past few weeks that she’s his person, the more he’s understood.

It’s not that he cares about his friends less than he did before, but he’s found that he’s happier spending his nights with Emery rather than going out with a group. He still talks to his friends and he loves hanging out with them, of course, but Niall has realized that he just genuinely enjoys the comfort of hanging out with Em more most nights. He would much rather be with her than be out hitting the pub with his two friends, Kevin and Grant, like he would on a Thursday after work, which had been his norm just a few weeks ago.

The smile on Emery’s face brightens now as Niall tells her who contacted him. “Oh yeah? How is she? We haven’t seen her since Mark and her hosted the Fourth of July BBQ at her place.”

“She’s great, surprised we’re married, actually. Although she said she always knew we’d get together.” 

Emery giggles. The pair have heard that a lot as they’ve been telling people about their marriage. Over the years, they’d had many people assume they were dating. Emery had always thought it was just some heteronormative shit, like the people who think that a man and a woman can’t be friends without being more. Yet, as she’s seen how easy it’s been to shift their relationship, she starts to understands. Her and Niall just work.

“Everyone says that, you know. Even the girls in my office who only met you that one time you brought me an umbrella said they were waiting for us to get together.” 

It had been one of those days where it had been raining heavily and Emery’s cheap $5 umbrella couldn’t hold up to the infamous winds of Chicago. She had absentmindedly been complaining to Niall about how her umbrella had turned inside out and he had taken it upon himself to fix it for her. Niall stopped at a store between their buildings at lunch that day and grabbed her a replacement umbrella. It wasn’t their normal day to meet, so Emery worked through lunch and was surprised when Niall showed up with an umbrella for her. 

Her coworkers had swooned over Niall that day. The romantic gesture of bringing her an umbrella mixed with Niall’s obvious good looks had the girls begging for details about their relationship and, once learning that it wasn’t like that, either encouraging her to get with him or asking for his number so they could have a shot.

Niall can see Emery lost in her thoughts, her sandwich half forgotten in front of her. He reaches over and takes her hand. “What’s going on in that mind of yours?”

Emery smiles, a little embarrassed as she admits, “just thinking about how you always did little things like bringing me an umbrella so I didn’t have to walk home in the rain.”

Niall shrugs it off, “course. You’re my best friend, I didn’t want you to have a bad day. If I could do something to make it better, I did. Didn’t have to have anything romantic between us for that.”

He watches as the smile doesn’t falter from Emery’s face. Niall gives her a few seconds in her thoughts before clearing his throat, “actually, Grace said she has some kind of game day thing happening at her apartment on Saturday. Wanted to know if we’d like to go.”

“Oh, so we get invited now that we’re a couple?” Emery jokes, but laughs it off. “But yeah, that seems like it’d be fun.”

Niall nods, “awesome, I’ll let her know.” He smiles and sighs as he checks his watch. “God, lunch never lasts long enough.” He packs his trash up and kisses Emery on the cheek again, “see you at home babe.” As he walks away, Emery tries her best to hide her disappointment at yet another lunch where she didn’t have the courage to kiss him.

——-

Saturday morning is the first time that the new couple has been able to sleep in since they’ve been married. As Niall wakes up, he focuses on his wife, sound asleep next to him. Her dark hair is spayed out across the pillow and she’s breathing softly as she’s lost in a dream.

Niall slowly gets out of bed, careful not to wake Emery, before kissing her forehead. Em moves a bit and he’s scared he’s woken her, but when her breathing returns to normal, he uses it as an excuse to jump in the shower.

There, his thoughts turn to his wife. Things have been so great between them lately. He can tell their relationship is different from when they were friends. There’s definitely a chemistry that they’ve allowed to form between them, but he doesn’t know how to take things to the next level.

Niall feels as if he’s going crazy waiting. He wishes he could build up the courage to go for it, but his worst fear is that he’ll go too fast and scare Em off and ruin everything they’ve built so far.

He sighs as the water runs cold. He didn’t realize how long he was lost in his thoughts until now. Niall dries off and tosses on a pair of boxer shorts and heads back to the bedroom.

As he climbs into bed, he feels Emery stir. “What time is it?” She mumbles as she moves her body next to Niall’s. The heat from her body causes him to feel like he’s on fire.

Niall laughs, trying to pretend his body isn’t reacting to hers so obviously, and checks the clock, “9:06.” Emery groans, “couldn’t even let me sleep til 9:30 could you?” She receives a soft chuckle in return from Niall as he runs his fingers through her hair, “you can go back to sleep for 24 minutes if you want.”

Emery pushes herself up on her hands, so she’s hovering over Niall slightly as she laughs, “oh, I can? Will you allow me to do that?” She teases him.

The small smile on her face drives Niall wild. He realizes that all he would need to do is pull her down slightly for their lips to meet.

Emery quickly realizes the same thing. The pair spend a moment too long caught in each other’s eyes. When Niall’s gaze drops to look at her lips, it causes Emery’s mind to go in overdrive.

She clears her throat as she gets up, “I should probably grab a shower too.” As Em heads to the bathroom, Niall groans and covers his face. He doesn’t know why this is so difficult for him.

As Emery steps into the shower, she tries hard not to psych herself out. She knows that they were close to kissing. All she had to do was lean down, but of course she freaked out and lost the moment. At this point, Em’s sure that they’re going to be celebrating their 20 year anniversary and still have never kissed.

She grabs a towel to dry off as she gets out of the shower and only then does she realize that she forgot to grab clothes to bring in with her. “Fuck.” She breathes as she wraps the towel around her body. It barely covers her as she heads to the bedroom.

Niall’s eyes widen as Em steps back in the room. A blush creeps up on her face as she tries to explain, “forgot to take clothes in with me….”

She opens her drawer for underwear and notice Niall’s still staring. Em laughs, “Something the matter? Never seen a woman in a towel before?”

Niall shrugs, “not one as gorgeous as you.” Em looks up and she catches his eye in the mirror. God, why can’t she be normal and use the moment to kiss him. Instead, she finds herself freaking out, once again. She clears her throat as she grabs some clothes, “I’ll just change in the bathroom…”

Emery groans as she closes the bathroom door. “You’re such a fucking idiot.” She tells herself in the mirror. How many times now has she passed up the perfect opportunity to kiss her fucking husband.

Niall is rooting around in the kitchen when Em comes out of the bathroom. “So, Grace said they’re doing a pitch in. Thought I’d make my infamous blackberry crumble.”

“Ohhhh,” Em laughs as she leans over the island in the kitchen, “That means I get to eat your infamous blackberry crumble.” She teases, “actually, now that we’re married, do I get to learn how to make it?”

“Oh is that why you married me?” Niall jokes. “For my dessert recipe?”

“Maaaaaaaybe,” Em laughs. She washes her hands and Niall pulls the blackberries from the fridge. Niall moves behind Em and puts his arms around her body.

“What are you doing?” She asks. Niall’s chest is flush against her back as he responds, “Teaching you to make the recipe.”

He guides his hands over hers and has his chin against her shoulder as he shows her how he uses the knife to cut the blackberries perfectly.

Emery’s breath stops almost the entire time they’re working on the crumble. She can’t believe she’s having a Ghost moment, right here in her own kitchen. 

Niall stays in his position as they’re preparing the dish. When he finally pulls his body from hers, Em almost feels like she’s losing something. She’s sure her back is full of sweat from how hot the spot where they connected is.

As Niall puts the dessert into the oven to bake, Emery has a hard time stopping herself from pulling his body back against hers and letting him fuck her against the counter. She doesn’t know what’s come over her. Sure, she’s thought of being with Niall in that way a few times the past couple of weeks, but never this intensely.

Niall is almost oblivious to what’s happening in Emery’s mind. Almost. He can tell that her body reacted to him as they were baking, but he wants her to be the one to make that move. He sets the timer on the stove and turns around, a cheeky smile on his face, “22 minutes and our dessert will be ready.”

——

It’s almost unbelievable that they got through the entire afternoon without doing anything. Emery felt that Niall was teasing her the whole time: small touches along her waist as he’d walk past her, his hand softly digging into her hip as they laid on the couch and watched tv before they had to head to Grace’s.

Emery’s thankful for the space between them in the car. It’s the first time all day that she hasn’t felt like her skin is on fire underneath his touch.

The couple is barely in the door of Grace’s home in the suburbs when Emery is embraced in a hug. “I’ve missed you so much!” Grace smiles, “it’s been forever, I can’t believe you two are married!!”

Niall laughs, “we can hardly believe it ourselves,” he wraps his arms around the two girls. 

Mark meets them in the foyer and shakes Niall’s hand as Grace leads Emery into their living room. “Em, this is Patricia and Hera. They’re some friends from down the street. We normally get together once a week or so for games, but we thought it’d be fun to have you guys come tonight.”

“Yes, we wanted to do our favorite- the Newlywed game. It’s so fun to play, especially with new couples!” Hera smiles.

The men join them in the living room and Niall squeezes himself in between Em and the end of the couch. “So what are we playing?”

Grace grabs a few white boards, markers, and pieces of paper. “Ok, so basically, we each come up with a question that we’ll write on the paper and take turns answering. So like, one question could be what’s your partners favorite dessert. So Niall would answer based on Emery’s favorite dessert and Emery would put her favorite dessert on her board and if Niall gets it right, they get a point.”

“Sounds easy enough,” Niall shrugs. Everyone takes a scrap of paper and writes a question down. Grace smiles as she sets hers to the side, “I have a special one, it’ll be the last question.”

Niall and Em share a look, wondering what Grace is up to as they all put their slips in the middle of the table. “I’ll go first,” Niall says and he grabs one. “What did you think of your partner the first time you met.” Niall reads out.

Emery has to answer and Niall has to guess her answer. As she starts to write, she notices Niall glancing over her shoulder. “Hey! No cheating!” She jokes as she turns her body, so her legs are across Niall’s lap and she can place her white board on her knees away from Niall’s glance.

The other couples exchange looks and smiles. They all know that newlywed, honeymoon phase well. “I feel like I already know the answer to this one,” Mark laughs, since he remembers Niall storming into their shared dorm space freshman year complaining about an arrogant girl in his class.

“You definitely do,” Em laughs as she turns her board and shows everyone that she wrote “I hate him” and Niall shows that his board says “hated me.”

They first met in their Accounting I class freshman year. Emery had arrived early and pinpointed the exact seat with the best view that wasn’t underneath any air ducts. She put her stuff down and had run to the bathroom and returned to find a scrawny little blond in her perfect seat.

Niall refused to move, stating that he thought her stuff was for the seat next to him. Which, now, she’s more than willing to admit was just as good of a seat as her original one. But back then, she was stubborn and hated that this guy could have a pick of any seat he wanted, yet chose hers and refused to move. It didn’t help that for the rest of the semester, no matter how fast she booked it from her previous class, Niall had always beat her and was sitting in that seat.

It kicked off their rivalry that eventually turned into a friendship and now, a marriage. Emery is lost in the memory of how annoying Niall was as a freshman in college when Grace’s voice pulls her back to the present. “Emery, your turn to pick one!”

Em grabs a piece of paper from the pile and realizes she got her own. She smiles as she reads it off, “What’s your favorite quality of your partners?”

Emery feels like she knows what Niall appreciates about her. He’s always loved her sense of humor. In fact, that’s what caused them to start to become friends in the first place.

In their sophomore year, they’d ended up in the same statistics class. They had a rivalry for most of their shared classes since the very first seat debacle and would always check out the other’s test grades for a gloat if their score ended up higher.

When they got their first statistics test back, both did horribly. Niall had a 76 and Emery a 78. Even though her stomach had churned at the thought of getting anything less than an A, she still elbowed Niall, “even when I suck, I’m still better than you.”

Niall’s boisterous laugh had interrupted the class, but he hadn’t cared as he leaned over, “Well maybe you should tutor me then, so I can get a high C like you, Miss Smarty.” Even though he had clearly been joking, it had been a good idea for them to study together. It turns out, they both understood different aspects of the subject and together they were able to understand statistics enough to keep their 4.0 averages afloat, albeit just barely.

Back in the present, Emery puts a huge smile on her face as she turns her board over. Her face drops when Niall shows his, which reads “her tits.”

“Niall James Horan!” She screams as she hits his arm with her board. Niall can’t stop himself from laughing as her face turns bright red. He pulls her close as Mark high fives him. As the other couples take their turns trying to earn points, Niall rubs Em’s back and whispers in her ear, “sorry, just having a bit of fun.”

Emery juts her bottom lip out into a pout, “always at my expense.” Niall smiles and rubs his thumb against her cheek, “only because I love you so much.”

“Hey hey, newlyweds!” Grace’s voice pulls them away from each other. “You’re missing the next question! Patricia, can you please read it again?”

Patricia laughs, “god, Grace. I was enjoying watching them have their little moment. Remember when we were all young and in love like that?” She meets Hera’s eye and her wife laughs and shakes her head, “why are you acting like we’re 60 years old? We’ve barely been married three years, we’re just as young and in love!”

“So you say,” Patricia retorts and rereads the question on the slip of paper. “If your spouse could wear one item of your clothing, what would it be?”

Emery giggles, as she knows the question right away. Niall has this old Elton John tee that his dad had gotten from a show. When Niall and Em had started hanging out as friends, they would go to parties together. One time, a guy at one of the parties had gotten mad at Em after she turned him down for a dance and threw his beer at her. Niall had helped her in the bathroom, using a towel he found hanging over the shower rod to wipe her face and hair down. His apartment ended up being closer than hers and he let her shower and pick out an outfit to head home in. She had eyed the Elton John shirt immediately and put it on.

Niall had to come round to hers a few weeks later and practically had to steal it back. Even now, he’ll come home from work and find her wearing the shirt and joking that one day, he’ll find a second for her.

When it comes their turn to flip their signs, they know right away they were thinking the same thing. “Woot woot!” Em laughs and high fives Niall.

“My turn my turn!” Hera laughs and picks a paper from the pile. “When’s the first time you saw your partner cry? These are good!”

Niall meets Em’s eyes and reaches for her hand to give her a short squeeze. He remembers the moment well. It was about ¾ of the way through their semester with Statistics. Emery had just stopped showing up to class and Niall had been worried about her.

Of course, at the time, he would never admit it to himself. He tried to play it off, pretending that he just didn’t want to get a better grade than her because she had given up. The pair had met a few times at Emery’s apartment to study throughout the semester, so he showed up before class and pounded on her door.

When Emery opened the door, her eyes had been rimmed red and he could tell that she had probably been crying for a while. Even as he had tried to convince himself at the time he didn’t care, he had wrapped his arms around her in a hug and she broke down in front of him.

Turns out, she had been going through a lot that semester. Her best friends, so she thought, turned against her when she had a falling out with a mutual friend. Emery had started to feel like she had nobody, so she started to think that trying for anything was worthless. She had fallen into a pretty deep depression and stopped attending classes altogether.

Niall held her as she cried and encouraged her to take a shower and walked with her to class that day. He started texting her everyday after that and whenever they had a class together, he’d offer to walk with her so she wouldn’t have to feel alone.

It’s a special moment to them both. It was embarrassing for Emery at the time. She always felt like she had to take on everything herself, but having Niall there that day, showing he cared, allowed her to have the strength to care about herself again.

Of course, this isn’t something that either wants to share, especially in front of the new couple they don’t know very well. Emery and Niall both write “spring semester, sophomore year” on their boards.

The group asks for more explanation, but Niall cuts them off. “Think we’ll keep that just between us.”

“Boooring,” Mark jokes as he takes his question. He knows what it is, since no one else has asked it. “What’s your partner’s favorite sexual position.”

Niall and Emery share a glance and both of their faces are red from embarrassment. They have definitely never discussed sex that frankly with one another before. While the other couples are answering, Niall looks at Em, hoping for some clue.

Em puts her hands up near her chin to imitate paws and does a small pant. Niall watches her with awe in his eyes. He can’t believe how absolutely adorable she is. He writes doggy style on his board as a smirk forms on his face. Niall leans over and whispers, his warm breath against Emery’s ear, “I’ll have to remember that.”

Niall leans back against the couch and his eye catches Em’s. He knows he went out on a limb with that comment, but he doesn’t regret it. The hair on Emery’s arm stands straight up. She knows if they were at home or anywhere with even a bit more privacy than they currently have, she’d probably be unable to stop herself from jumping him.

After the couples start revealing their boards and Emery learns a lot more about Grace and Patricia than she had originally planned to, Grace pulls out her question. “This one I want both of you to answer. Thought it’d be so cute with actual newlyweds. When’s the first time you realized you were in love with each other. You don’t have to write it down, you can just tell us.”

Grace is practically giddy, she loves hearing the cute moments that someone realizes that they love the other. 

Niall smiles, “um, I’ll go first. It was during our junior year. Em and I had become great friends at that point and we had a game day, kind of like this, with some of our friends. Mark, I think you might have actually been there too.”

“Anyway, I caught Emery trying to cheat, because of course she would.” He laughs as he catches Em’s eye. “I remember calling you out and you scrunched up your nose and said something like snitches get stitches and I should sleep with one eye open. And I just remember thinking you were the most adorable woman I’d ever met and I was glad you were in my life. And I guess it only took me what? A decade from that to make you my wife.”

He tries to laugh it off. Niall knows that he’s basically admitting that he’s been in love with Emery for that long. Which, in many ways he had. He didn’t realize back then that it was a romantic type of love. Niall had simply seen it as her being a friend who brought him joy. But as he’s started to get comfortable being in a relationship with her the last couple weeks, the more that he’s realized that those little moments meant that he was in love with her.

The girls in the room all aww at Niall’s cute confession and Emery’s little voice in the back of her head reappears, telling her that now’s the perfect time. She quickly runs her fingers behind Niall’s ear and breaks the short gap between them to press her lips against his.

It’s almost as if the rest of the world is blacked out except for them. Niall rests his hand on the small of her back as he deepens the kiss. They’re lost in their own world, finally taking the step that both have been too scared for.

It’s not until they hear the laughter of the other couples, pulling them out of their trance, that they start to be embarrassed at how public their embrace was. They try to apologize, but they just get waved off. “Newlyweds. We were all like that once.”

Emery tries to relate and laugh it off, but Niall’s lips still burn against hers. She wishes it wasn’t rude to just be like “we’re going home now, bye.”

Niall turns to Em, “what about you? When did you know you were in love with me?”

Emery smiles, her mind already pinpointing the exact moment. Much like Niall, it’s only after they’ve started to be romantic that the moments they shared when they were younger start to take on a new life.

“Do you remember when we took the trip to King’s Island after school ended sophomore year? It was us and like four of our friends crowded into your shitty little car. I remember you were in such a fucking mood, so when we were on the funnel ride, I kicked you out of my tube and made you ride with the other group? And the rest of the day, you just pouted and moaned on about how I hated you.”

Emery laughs, her eyes not leaving Niall’s as her smile reaches her eyes, “I remember thinking you were the most annoying man I’d ever met in my life and I absolutely loved you.”

“Isn’t that exactly what you think now?” Niall laughs, teasing her.

Em closes the gap between them again, kissing Niall for the second time before whispering against his lips, “sure is.”

As Emery and Niall hop in the car to head home from Grace’s, neither can stop smiling. “So, ten years huh?” Niall laughs, looking over at his wife. “Can you believe it took us that long to figure out we could be this happy together?”

Em takes Niall’s hand in hers and leans across the console to give him a peck on the lips. She loves that she can do that now; give him kisses whenever she feels like and not worry about it being perfect. “I think it came at the right time, actually.”

Niall rubs his thumb against her hand, “yeah, maybe you’re right.” Emery leans across the middle console again for another kiss and this time Niall deepens it. Neither one wants to break the kiss, but Em has to reluctantly pull away once the cup holder that’s digging into her ribs hurts too much.”

“Would it be totally crazy…” Em starts as she leans over Niall and helps to push his seat back before climbing into his lap to resume their makeout session.

Niall runs his hands down Em’s back and toys at the hem of her dress. A smile forms on his face as he pulls away slightly, “honestly, this is hot but I do kind of feel like a teenager hooking up in the car.”

Em’s entire body shakes with laughter as Niall runs his hand through her hair and places a soft kiss on her lips. “Come on, let’s continue this at home.”

Emery moves back to the passenger seat as Niall pulls his seat back up and heads to their apartment downtown. Niall turns on the radio and smiles as one of their favorite songs comes on.

Em had a Nicholas Sparks phase when she was younger and was obsessed with The Last Song. When she was first out of college and starting work, her and Niall had gotten closer once they realized they were going to be working in the same city.

Like many recent grads, neither of them had much disposable income, so many of their nights spent together included watching movies or playing games.  
She had forced Niall to watch the Last Song, which she knew he liked, even if he wanted to pretend otherwise. For a while after they watched it, he would always tease her by playing She Will Be Loved and singing perfectly and making fun of Em’s rather scratchy tone, usually with a comment about how he’s the Miley in the car.

It’s been a while since either one of them has thought about that movie, but as the chorus hits and Niall starts belting the song, both are transported back to the moments they spent watching it together.

“Do you think we’d have worked out if we started dating back then?” Em asks as the song fades out and she turns the radio down so they can talk.

“I’d like to think so.” Niall looks over at her and smiles before returning his eyes to the road. “I think you’re my one. Though it might not have been as easy as now, since we’re both settled in our careers and know how to take care of ourselves.”

Em laughs, “true, you probably would have killed me when the only thing i knew how to make was ramen.”

“I mean, I like a good ramen myself. But yeah, I remember when your entire cabinet was filed with it. Thought you were going to have a heart attack with all of that sodium.”

“Yeah, it’s definitely a good thing I got out of that phase.”

Niall pulls into their parking garage and they head up to their apartment, hand in hand. As they’re alone, in their own place, they suddenly realize what each other expects is about to go down.

Even though both of them want it, there are some nerves associated with breaking that wall down. Niall pulls Em to his chest and kisses her softly. “No pressure for tonight… I’m still up for going at whatever pace works for you.”

Em runs her hand through his hair and meets his eyes as she smiles, “I really like you, Niall.”

“I love you, Em,” he laughs, unsure of where the conversation is going.

“I love you too, Ni. But I also really like you. Like, in a way I’ve never felt about someone before…” She doesn’t feel like she has to explain that part to Niall. It had become a bit of a joke amongst their friend group for years that Em was guarded in relationships.

For everyone she dated, she never let them in. There isn’t some big history of trauma or abandonment, but nonetheless, Em always learned to rely on herself and herself alone. She was scared to lean on people she saw as temporary for fear that when they’d leave, she would have to pick up pieces of herself she left behind to fit them in.

But with Niall, it’s different. He’s been in her life so long that it doesn’t feel like she has to put parts of herself away to fit him in. In many ways, he already had a spot in her life and being married to him is more about letting the pieces of each other mesh together, where neither is broken or giving up parts of themselves.

Niall watches Em as she processes her thoughts, letting her explain herself when she’s ready. “I think things happened when they were supposed to for us. We both had so much growth in the decade we’ve known each other and I think now we’re at a spot where we’re good together.”

“Yeah?” Niall smiles, closing the gap between their bodies, “I was hoping you’d say that.”

Em leans back on the arm of the couch as she loosely wraps her legs around Niall’s waist, her hands finding their favorite spot at the nape of his neck. “Better than thinking we lost a decade we could have been together.”

Niall laughs, his mouth inches from hers and the vibration of his laughter drives Em wild, “I mean, I was kind of hoping we could make up for 10 years tonight.”

“What happened to no pressure?” Em jokes, her eyes lighting up as she teases him. Niall backs away, just a few inches, “I can stop anytime, just say the word.”

Em pouts and shakes her head as she pulls his lips back to hers, “No, we’ve waited far too long for this.”

—

While the pair’s eyes are heavy with exhaustion, Emery leans against Niall, with her finger forming circles in the rough patch of hair on his chest.

Niall closes his eyes, a permanent smile on his face. “I have to admit, I was a little worried that’d be the bad part of our relationship. But it definitely was not.”

“Hey!” Em laughs, hitting him with one of the pillows that was thrown from the bed a few short hours before. “You thought I’d be shit?”

“I didn’t say that!” Niall laughs, tossing the pillow back at her, “Just that I figure we’ve been so great, there has to something that we have to work through.”

“Maybe your tendency to say things like you were expecting we’d have bad sex?” Em teases, “would that be something we have to work through?”

Niall shakes his head, “nope, I don’t think so!”

“Hmmm….” Em laughs as she kisses the side of his chest as she returns to her spot there, “agree to disagree?”

Niall runs his hand through the long waves of her hair, spiraling the strands around his fingers, “whatever you say, babe.”

“That’s more like it.” She smiles, bringing her hand to Niall’s as she pulls it away from her hair.

Niall spreads his fingers out as he lets Em trace the lines on his palm. “I can’t believe we get to do this every day from now on,” he smiles, “feels like I’m in a dream.”

Em drops his hand and places it on her hip, “me too, I can’t believe I got so lucky to be with you.”

Niall smiles and leans down to place a small kiss on her lips, “I’m the lucky one, love.”

“Are we going to fight about this now?” Em jokes, leading to Niall letting out another laugh as he shakes his head, “don’t know why you want us to fight so much.”

“I don’t, I like that we don’t fight.” She smiles, returning his kiss. Niall pulls her against his chest and it only takes a few minutes before they fall asleep pressed against each other.


	5. Bachelor/ette Party

In the month and a half that they’ve been married, Niall and Em have spent almost every day together. When Grant suggests that their group get together to watch a basketball preseason game, Niall’s quick to agree.

It’s been a while since he’s had a boy’s night and Niall is well aware of Emery’s thoughts towards most sports. In their decade friendship, she has only gone with him to a game a handful of times. Em would use it as an excuse to eat overpriced hot dogs and drink too much. When he would host a game at his place, she would normally come up with an excuse not to attend.

The only other girls he ever lived with are his exes, Jessie and Helen. He met both of them at sporting events, so they were always willing to host with him when it came time for big events.

It hasn’t been an issue in their relationship yet, since most sports that Niall cares about are in their off-season during the fall. However, as the basketball season is starting, he does start to wonder how things will be now that they’re married.

He tries his best to not let his worries affect him as he sends Em a quick text, hoping that she’ll be understanding. “Grant invited me over to watch the game Saturday. I already told him I’d come, hope that’s ok.”

He gets a reply in just a few minutes, which immediately calms his nerves. “sounds great! I might try to plan a girl’s night for Saturday too! :)”

Even though emojis have been a thing for years, it’s a habit of Em’s to forgo trying to find the one she wants amongst the hundreds available to fall back on regular emoticons when she’s sending texts. It’s such a simple thing, but it makes Niall smile every time. 

He’s watched her try to find the right emoji before, she’ll scroll through where she thinks it is, scrunch up her nose, and sigh before just going back to what she knows. Now, everytime he gets a text from her, he can picture her face going through the same emotions before sending it. Niall smiles as he types back, “sounds perfect babe. Love you to bits.”

———-

On Saturday, Niall helps Emery pick out what to wear. She invited Maeve up, who unfortunately had work commitments and couldn’t make it. Instead, she’s going out with some of her friends, Emily and Olivia. They decided to do an old-school girl hangout. They’re coming over to her and Niall’s apartment to get ready and pregame before heading out to a club.

Both of them have already decided that they would stay at Em’s tonight, since she lives closest downtown and neither want to try to get home late at night.

The girls are coming over in an hour and a half and Em is trying on different dresses to wear out. Besides Niall’s birthday, it’s been awhile since she’s gone clubbing. Nowadays, a chill night at a bar is much more her style.

But her friends were really interested in dancing the night away and Em had to admit, she did enjoy dancing.

Em pulls off yet another short black dress from her youth that seems to hug the wrong parts of her body nowadays as she tries to find something in her current wardrobe that’s club appropriate. 

The only one that she can find is the one she specifically purchased for Vegas. She smiles and sighs happily as she tosses it on, remembering that this is what she wore at her wedding.

Niall’s smile lights up the entire room when Em comes out with a small twirl, “what about this?”

“Hey! I remember that dress!” Em crosses the room and Niall wastes no time wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her against him. “Didn’t get to take it off you the first time.”

“Niall!” Em can’t help the laughing shriek that comes out of her mouth. Even though they’ve gotten into a rhythm with being physical, she’s still adjusting to hearing him being so openly horny after knowing him so long.

Niall lets out a soft moan as he returns his lips to Emery’s. “The girls aren’t going to be here until 6 right? We’ve got time.”

Em pouts, “technically, but I also need to grab a shower before they get here.”

Niall takes Em’s bottom lip between his teeth, “I can work with the shower.”

Em laughs and pushes him away, “No you will not! Not after you dropped me last time!” She gets off of him, “I’m not trusting you with holding me up again.”

Niall pouts as he leans back, accepting that Em’s not going to let him back in the shower with her. “Should have thought about my bad knees when you suggested the shower. Not my fault!”

Em shakes her head, the laughter brightening her eyes. “Oh right, next time I get married, I’ll make sure he doesn’t have any childhood injuries that would result in him dropping me in the shower.”

Niall’s face drops, his bottom lip automatically hitting out of his mouth. “Hey! Don’t marry anyone else, you’re mine.”

Em catches his expression as she’s about to head into the shower and she sighs and heads back to give Niall a kiss, “course not, you and me forever.”

“You know, I do need a shower before the game.” Niall tries again and Em laughs as she presses her forehead against his. “We can shower together, but just showering! I don’t want a bruised butt again.”

“I’ll accept those terms,” Niall smiles as the pair hop into the shower. They lather each other up and Em is quick to give in on her only showering rule once Niall has her in the shower and against the wall. Except when he runs his hand along her leg to try to pick it up, she has to stop him. Em sighs as she remembers the pain of being dropped on the tiled floor of their shower. As much as she wants to give in, she’s definitely not going to when she has a whole night planned.

“Sorry,” Niall whispers as he pulls Em back under the water. He lets her turn around to start washing the shampoo off her hair. Niall wraps his arms around her waist and pulls her back against his chest as he places soft kisses on her shoulder. “Love you. Just can’t get enough of you.”

Em leans back against him and runs her fingers up his arm. She drags them slowly against his shoulder before running it through his hair and tugging on it as a means to bring his lips to meet hers. “Love you too.”

The water starts to run cold and they reluctantly get out of the shower. Niall throws on a pair of light wash jeans and a button down shirt while Em grabs a pair of leggings and an old T-shirt so she doesn’t get makeup on her dress.

Em is standing in the bathroom, brushing out her hair when the buzzer rings. Niall uses to speaker to give them a “come on up ladies!” as he buzzes the girls in.

Niall greets both Olivia and Emily with hugs. “Long time, no see.” 

“Yeah, a lot has changed since last time we saw you.” Olivia teases, “went and married our best friend didn’t you?”

“At least we don’t have to worry about her messing around with losers anymore,” Emily laughs as she goes to the kitchen to grab the gin she knows Emery keeps for when she visits.

“Definitely glad you two don’t consider me a loser!” Niall jokes, grabbing his keys. “Don’t have too much fun, okay? I expect my wife back tomorrow morning, hangover’s ok, having to bail her out of jail is not.”

“Honestly Niall, you worry too much. We only commit misdemeanors, not felonies.” Olivia rolls her eyes as Emily hands her a Guinness from the fridge. “She’ll just get a slap on the wrist, no bail required.”

Niall shakes his head, “you lot are absolutely fucking mad, I swear.” He grabs his beer opener from the drawer and pops off the top of the Guinness for Olivia. “By the way, Em made me grab these from the store on Wednesday but wouldn’t let me drink them because they were for you. I’m pretty sure she likes you more than me.”

“Who do I like more than you?” Emery asks as she joins her friends in the kitchen. She opens the fridge and pulls out the wine she picked out for herself.

Em’s always gone above and beyond for her friends. She knows almost all of their preferred drinks and, when they come over, does her best to have them available. Especially since they’re pregaming, Em made sure she stocked up on alcohol for them.

Niall laughs as he kisses Em’s cheek as she closed the fridge, “your friends, of course.”

“Well, that should be no surprise to you.” Em bumps her hip against his and gives him a peck on the lips. Last thing she wants to do is make her friends uncomfortable with PDA, but Em has also gotten used to kissing Niall everytime they say goodbye.

“Bye babe.” Niall lifts his eyes from hers and waves at her friends, “have a good night ladies. Remember what I said. I expect her back in one piece.”

“And remember what I told you!” Liv responds and winks at him as Niall heads out to Grant’s place. The girls can hear Niall’s laughter all the way down the hall as he leaves.

“So, you and Niall?” Emily starts, a smirk already on her face. “Have lots of questions, but the most important: how’s the sex?”

Em throws her head back with laughter, already expecting this kind of talk from her. “Thought I’d at least have a drink before we got into that.”

Emily shrugs and takes a swig of her gin directly from the bottle, causing Em to let out another guffaw of laughter before answering her, “mind blowing. Any more questions about my husband’s sexual abilities?”

“Well…..” Emily asks, her eyebrows lifted and Em shakes her head and approximates using her fingers, causing all three girls to bust out in laughter.

“I swear to god, if either of you repeats anything to him about that, I’ll kill you both.” Em laughs as she pours her wine into a glass and heads into the living room.

Liv brought face masks for them, so all three place the paper on their faces and take some rather terrifying selfies before they bring themselves back to their conversation.

They quickly work their way through their professional lives, which they all find rather boring to discuss, and move towards reminiscing on their more wild days.

The three of them met after Em’s disastrous friendship that catapulted her towards depression her sophomore year. Em had met Emily first and they had bonded over the fact that they both normally went by Em and their confusion when trying to answer a question when the teacher called on one of them.

Liv was her roommate freshman year and, even though they had moved in with other roommates, they remained friends. Emily introduced Liv and Em and they quickly became close as well.

In college, they were the group Em felt most comfortable going out with. They blew off steam most weekends when they had all upper level classes and watched out for each other to make sure all got home safely.

After graduation, both Emily and Liv moved away from Chicago, but made their way back to the city over the years. Even though they live relatively close, they still find it difficult to find time to really hang out.

Yet, tonight almost feels like they just saw each other the night before. They quickly talk about any and everything as the girls take turns letting Em do their makeup.

Emily goes first and, as Em had only a glass of wine when she started, ends up with a super smoked out wing. Liv goes next, after Em had about three glasses, and gets a decently blended colorful eye. Em does herself last, right as she’s finishing her bottle. She makes the mistake of trying to do a wing right as she finishes her look and ends up looking like a raccoon.

The girls laugh and have to take selfies of their progressively worsening looks. Once they finish, they realize that if they want to go to a club, they have to head out soon.

Liv is the one who speaks up, saying what they’re all thinking. “What if we just skip it tonight?”

“Oh thank god!” The two Ems laugh. None of them wanted to actually go out. Instead, they settle in for a marathon of Sabrina while working their way through all the alcohol in Emery’s fridge.

They end up falling asleep in various spots in the living room. Emily and Liv both on opposite sides of Niall’s humongous couch and Emery laying on the floor, surrounded by several blankets.

——

Niall grabs the subway to Grant’s place. Niall met both Grant and Kevin on a night out a few years back. Most of Niall’s friends had slowly stopped hanging out with him regularly. No big drama - just life changing. Niall, on the other hand, still loved most sports and wanted a chance to watch it with like-minded people.

Niall had gone to one of his favorite sports bars and happened upon Grant and Kevin cheering on the same team as him from a booth. Niall, as charismatic as always, introduced himself and they quickly became sports buddies.

Grant slowly moved his way up a firm over the years. Now, he’s a manager and makes a pretty good living. He’s got a nice apartment close to the Loop and started hosting the games at his place rather than the bar after splurging on a huge tv that the boys find perfect for the basketball game.

As always, Grant provides his place and the boys bring food and booze. Kevin brought beer and Niall stopped at their favorite Sushi place on the way over to grab a few different rolls.

As Niall lays on Grant’s couch, it almost feels normal. A few months prior, this was an every week occurrence. They enjoyed each other’s company and the sport didn’t matter. During March madness, they’d meet more often and when no sports they really cared about were on, they’d just play video games.

Yet, they’re all aware things have changed. Niall’s married now and his presence at events has dropped drastically. Even when he was dating Jessie, he usually made time to come to the weekly events. Occasionally, he’d even bring his then girlfriend along.

Now, he’s found himself making up excuses to stay with Em. It’s not about the boys- there just haven’t been much sports on during the fall that Niall cares about. In the past, he’d come during those weeks anyway, but he’s a newly married guy and has enjoyed the time with his wife.

Niall was a bit worried that the boys would clown him about not coming, but they’re just as forgiving as Niall is and things fall back into normalcy.

The game is a good one. All three boys end up on the edge of the couch, their butts barely touching the cushion as the buzzer goes off at the exact time the ball goes through the hoop, causing their team to win by a singular point.

They all jump and whoop and holler as they hug and enjoy the game. “We have to go out and celebrate!” Niall smiles as he hugs his friends. “Go for a pint, the game’s too good to just head home.”

Kevin and Grant agree and they head out to the sports bar where they had met and watched many a game at. They used to be regulars there, but as they make their way through the crowded restaurant to grab a stool by the bar, they realize that most of the faces they pass are unfamiliar.

One of the bartenders slowly makes her way over to them, checking on each person on the way to make sure their drinks are filled. By the time she’s in front of them, the cheerful brunette who looks like she’s too young to be serving alcohol has been trying to catch Niall’s eye for a few minutes.

Kevin notices and gives Niall a nudge. For the record, Niall had already noticed. He’s as flattered as anyone would be, but he knows nothing would ever happen, even if he wasn’t with Em. He’s too old to be with girls that young. The last thing Niall wants is to be one of those guys in his sixties chasing barely legal girls.

As she comes close, Niall’s eye flicks to her name tag. “Hey Charlotte! Can i get a pint of Guinness?”

“Of course!” She pours him the beer from tap, all while keeping eye contact with him. Charlotte normally only flirts with customers to get nice tips, but she heard Niall’s laugh when he first sat down and she found herself wanting to be the one who makes him laugh next.

Kevin and Grant both order drinks and Charlotte does her job, but keeps her eyes on Niall as she tells them, “enjoy your drinks.”

She has to check on other customers, but she finds herself checking in on Niall more throughout the night. Grant teases him enough that Charlotte overhears and it’s not hard to notice the shade of red that Niall turns as he tries to tell them to stop.

For Niall, he’s just embarrassed. Grant and Kevin are both trying to tease him, telling him he’s still got it. But Niall’s married- happily so. The last thing he wants is for some poor girl to be with him.

It doesn’t help that Kevin keeps calling Charlotte over, trying to talk to her as the crowd around the bar dwindles. Kevin’s type is pretty much exclusively girls like Charlotte, which is one thing that makes Niall uncomfortable. But he knows it’s none of his business and the girls are legal, so he stays out of his friend’s relationships.

As Niall reaches his self-imposed limit, both on number of drinks and his bill, he calls Charlotte over for the last time to pay off his tab. She runs his card for the amount, adding in a friend’s and family discount of 5% off with a wink.

Before Niall can sign a copy, Charlotte leans over the bar and writes her number on the customer copy. “In case you get lonely tonight.”

Niall clears his throat. He’s always hated turning people down, but he doesn’t want to lead the poor girl on by accepting it. “I’m sorry, love. I’m actually married.”

“Oh.” Charlotte quickly stands up straight as she takes the paper she just wrote her number on and crumples it up. “I’m sorry, you didn’t have a ring, so I didn’t realize…”

That’s the first time Niall realizes that he doesn’t have a ring. Him and Em got married so quickly and have been consumed with figuring out their relationship and enjoying their newfound feelings for each other that it never came up.

“Oh.” Niall comes up with a lie on the spot, “I’m getting it resized, I normally have it.” Niall makes sure to give her a big tip as he smiles, trying not to make Charlotte feel any more awkward than she already does.

—-

Niall shoots Em a text when he’s leaving the bar, letting her know he’s on the way home. He doesn’t want to rush her night out, but he also knows that Em likes when he keeps her updated that he’s arrived somewhere safely.

Niall uses his key to get into the apartment and sees the three girls asleep in the glow of the tv. He tries his best to be quiet as he locks the door behind him and slips off his shoes.

He considers heading to the bedroom, but he notices Em asleep on the floor. Niall knows he’ll regret it tomorrow, but he lays down behind her, kissing between her shoulder blades.

“Niall?” He hears Em mumble. Niall smiles, “it’s me. Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“S’okay.” He receives in response then, after long enough that he was sure she had gone back to sleep, “how was the game?”

Niall smiles against her back, “amazing. Glad I got to watch.” Niall bites his lip as his hands wander over Em’s. He finds himself running his thumb over her fingers, her ring finger suddenly feeling bare.

“Did anyone hit on you at the club?” Niall’s never been the jealous type, but now that he realizes that she doesn’t have a ring, he needs to know. Normally, he’d be better about approaching the subject, but he’s just tipsy enough to lose his filter.

Em, who had previously been on the verge of sleep, opens her eyes and tries to remain awake for this. She pushes her back against Niall as she teases him, not quite ready to tell him that their night began and ended at the apartment. “Why? Is that your kink, hearing about people hitting on your wife?”

Niall groans, his eyes closing as he pushes his forehead against her back. “someone hit on me.” He can feel Em’s body stiffen underneath his arms.

Her mind is racing with everything that could come next. She figured that since they got married, they’d be exclusive. True, they never discussed it, but hearing Niall so openly ask makes her suddenly aware that they had never discussed sleeping with other people.

Niall nuzzles his lips against Em’s shoulders, trying to calm her. “Nothing happened. She mentioned I didn’t have a ring and I know you don’t either….”

Em’s body softens at Niall’s assurance and he places soft kisses along her back, hating that he had her stressed, even for only a few seconds. “Do you hate that you don’t have a ring?”

Em laughs slightly as she leans her head back to look at Niall’s profile. “I honestly never really thought about it. I had some girls ask to see my engagement ring, but I just said I didn’t wear it. The ring isn’t all that important to me.”

Niall nods and Em runs her hand up through his hair as she asks him, “do you hate that you don’t have a ring?”

Em can feel his smile against her as he admits, “Kind of. I want everyone to know I’m taken.” The admission is cute and Em can’t stop herself from letting out a small chuckle.

“I’ll buy you a ring then, Ni.” The hands around her waist tighten as Niall kisses her shoulder one more time. “Think I should buy you a ring first, love. Maybe we can even do a small wedding for family and friends. Do it right.”

Em’s fingers stop, her hands tangled in his hair as she tries to understand what he’s saying. It’s not long before she hears Niall’s soft snoring. She wonders if he’ll remember this conversation in the morning, because she knows it won’t leave her mind.


	6. Cold Feet

Once the girls leave, Niall starts cleaning up from the night before. He grabs the bottles of beer to wash out for recycling and the cups to put in the dishwasher. Em wonders if he can sense her heart pounding out of her chest.

Emery decides to ask Niall about the rings straight away. The last thing she wants is for this to be another first kiss situation, where she spends weeks obsessing over it. If this marriage is going to work, she needs to be more confident communicating with Niall.

“Ni…” She starts as she chews on her bottom lip. “Do you remember last night?”

“Course. Don’t think I was that drunk, love.” He smiles, the dimple in his cheek coming out as he tries to stop a laugh from appearing. Niall’s eyes meet hers and he can tell something is up. “What’s up?”

“Well, you said you wanted to purchase rings last night. Like wedding rings” she starts, “was that just a drunk thing or do you really want to?”

“Honestly, I think it’d be nice. I mean, I don’t know about you, but I never expected my wedding to be an elopement in Vegas we had decided on an hour beforehand. Thought it’d be cool if we basically do it all from scratch. Proposal, an actual ceremony. You know, the works.”

“Don’t you just think things are moving awfully fast?” Em sighs. Niall stops cleaning as he almost drops one of the glasses in his hand. He says, slowly, “I mean… we’re already married Em.”

“I know, but there’s a difference between getting married because you’re drunk in Vegas and getting married because you actually want to be with the person.” As soon as the words leave Em’s mouth, she regrets them. Niall’s whole body seems to tense up.

Niall tries his best to steady his words, but he can hear his voice crack as he asks, “you don’t actually want to be with me?”

“I didn’t mean that, Ni!” Em says quickly, not wanting to hurt him. “But come on, you have to admit, if we were just dating normally, marriage wouldn’t be on the table now at all.”

“If we weren’t married, we’d never be dating.” Niall reminds her, although he realizes too late that it was the wrong thing to say to her. Em blinks, looking as if Niall has just slapped her. “So you wouldn’t be with me if we weren’t married?”

“I’m just saying, it took us a month with us having it in mind to be romantic before we started to feel it. Makes sense that we never would have gone that route if it weren’t for the wedding.”

Em sighs. She understands what he’s saying, but it still feels weird to hear. Niall sighs, “let me finish cleaning up and we can talk, ok?” Normally, Em would offer to help, but she takes the few minutes to gather her thoughts. It’s their first fight and it’s a bit foreign to Emery to be upset with Niall about anything.

Niall takes a few extra moments in the kitchen to think through what just happened. He walks back into the living room and sits beside her, “I get where you’re coming from. I think there’s lot of things that make this seem further in our relationship than we actually are. Obviously we’ve known each other for a while and then the fact that we’re already married. If you’re not comfortable doing all of that, it’s fine. But, I do want us to get the wedding rings. Can we compromise on that?”

Em breathes a huge sigh of relief as she hugs him. “You really are the best. I was so worried I’d ruined this.”

Niall laughs as he places a kiss on her jaw, “you don’t have to worry about that, I’m not letting this go so quickly.” He leans away from her and runs his thumb along her cheek. “Okay?”

Em leans into him for another kiss, “Ok, perfect. Then lets save money up and we can go get some wedding bands? Is that ok?”

“We can go now,” Niall shrugs, “I saved up some money when I was with Jess. I never had a reason to spend it, so we can just use that.”

“Oh.” Em says as she pulls back from him, “I didn’t realize you were going to propose to Jessie…”

“I mean, we were together for almost 2 years….” Niall starts, “and you were there during the breakup. You know how bad it made me.”

“Yeah but you just never told me you were thinking about proposing…”

“It didn’t come up when I was going through heartbreak from her leaving me for another man.” Niall says bluntly.

“Yeah, but before that… I mean you saved up money for the ring. You never mentioned it.”

“I didn’t tell you every single thing that happened in my life.” Niall shrugs. Em sits back against the couch. “I guess I just can’t imagine you married.”

Niall laughs, “I’m married now.” He raises his eyebrow at her, “are you jealous? Is that what this is?”

“No!” Em pouts then sighs, “I mean, maybe a little? I don’t know. I just thought we were best friends.”

“We were best friends. We are still best friends. It just never came up. Obviously if I bought a ring and was actually planning, you’d know. I didn’t tell many people I was saving for it. Which is good because can you imagine how much more pathetic I’d look? Like I was planning on marrying her and she was wishing I was her coworker.”

Em sighs and rubs his back. “I’m sorry.” She does remember how hard that period was for Niall and she starts to feel selfish for trying to make it about her. Niall looks over at her and tries to give her a smile, but Em can see it doesn’t reach his eyes.

She sighs as she knows she needs to get this out, “I just wish we were able to have it all, you know? The butterflies and first kiss and awkward first date. We missed out on so many of those relationship milestones.”

Niall sighs, pulling Em into his lap. “I wish I could give that to you. I know the way we’ve done this is so unconventional.”

“Yeah,” Em leans into him, “I mean, maybe you’re right. If we never got married, we never would have made that step in our relationship. I’m just starting to realize how much we really missed out on and I wish we could still have them, even though we’re married”

Niall runs his hand through her hair, “I promise we have so many other things to look forward to. Other milestones we can hit together. Even if they’re not traditional.”

Em nods, “I trust you.”

—-

As they start shopping for bands, they realize how many options there are in terms of wedding bands. Niall assumed they’d just be able to grab a simple gold band.

Yet, once they started looking at rings, there were so many to choose from. Emery ends up falling in love with a silver band with cutouts, so it looks like a floral design. It’s simple but unique and comes in a set with a thicker wedding band for Niall. 

The rings come in the week before Thanksgiving. Both of them took off the few days prior to the holiday to head to Em’s parents for the week, but Niall convinces Emery to not go down until Sunday so he could do something special for them Saturday.

Niall’s tried to keep it a surprise, despite Em batting her eyelashes at him and begging him for just a small hint. Not that it’s easy for him to keep the secret. He’s never been good at keeping secrets and he finds himself almost telling her several times.

But Saturday comes with the secret still intact. Niall grabs the rings that he brought home the previous week and puts them in his pocket, feeling more nervous than he did when he had actually proposed to Emery.

“We’re going to start at lunch,” Niall says, as he leads Emery on the subway. He doesn’t have to explain the significance of his lunch choice when he sees the smile on Em’s face. This was one of their favorite spots in their college days.

It has cheap, good Italian food and during finals, the two spent a lot of time here taking advantage of unlimited refills to study day in and out.

Even though both of them only live a short ride away, once they graduated this quickly became a place of their past. The restaurant has not changed a bit and the couple grabs the table in the corner they loved all those years ago.

“So you planned on taking me down memory lane?” Em smiles, “is that the big secret?”

“You were always so much smarter than me,” Niall laughs as he intertwines his fingers with hers.

“I know,” Em teases, causing Niall to roll his eyes with a smile on his face. Even though their relationship has changed a lot from the first time they met, he realizes that in many ways, she’s still the exact same girl.

After lunch, Niall and Emery walk hand in hand to his first apartment building. Since he was just out of college at an entry-level job, he got a pretty crappy apartment. Thankfully, he was able to get out of there after his lease was up in 12 months. But they made a lot of memories in his short time there.

“So, right out of college. Just a couple of dumb kids who decided to stay in Chicago together.” Niall smiles, “Neither of us had much money, so we spent most nights either here or at your place watching tv or playing games.”

“I remember,” Em smiles. “You had the smallest space but you would invite like 12 people over to yours.”

Niall laughs, tightening his grip on his wife, “You were always my favorite tho.”

“Mmhmm,” Emery laughs as she leans into him for a kiss. “You’re rewriting history here, Horan. I remember quite a few people coming through our parties that you liked plenty well.”

Niall shakes his head, “don’t know what you’re talking about.” His dimple comes out as he smirks, knowing exactly what she means.

Niall dated around quite a bit in college and his first few years working. He never thought of himself as a womanizer: intentionally going through women. But Niall loved getting to know people, some of which were women. 

Things never got serious with those girls and it became a joke amongst their friend group that anyone they brought around would probably end up in Niall’s bed soon.

He can see Em shaking her head, probably thinking of that joke. Niall pulls her into his chest as he kisses the top of her head, “I remember you always being a constant here. That year was so tumultuous. There was so much to learn with having a job, especially one as ill-suited for me as that one was. But you were always there for me. The parties were fun, yeah, but my favorite memories from this apartment are the ones with just us. You coming over when I completely blew that project and cooking dinner for me or when you and Peter had ended things and you spent probably a week on my couch. We really started to get close after college and this was one of the first places to push us together.”

Em tries her hardest to hide the growing smile on her face. “I never would have admitted it at the time, but I did love this apartment. It became my home as much as it was yours.”

“This was really the place where we cemented ourselves in each other’s life. We were close in college towards the end, yeah. But we could have easily just become old school friends.”

Em wraps her arms around his neck as she kisses him. “I’m glad we stayed friends.”

“Me too.” Niall smiles, his arm wrapped around her waist. The entry to the apartments is small and a few younger adults come up and have to work their way around the couple to get into their apartment. “God, I remember that struggle.” He shakes his head and sighs, “let’s move on before someone else has to fight their way through us to get inside.”

Em laughs as they make their way back onto the subway. “This is fun, Ni. It is kind of crazy to see how far we’ve come in our relationship.”

“Yeah if you told me when we first met that you’d be my wife, I’d probably call you crazy. But somehow we went from hating each other to being best friends to being in love.” Niall smiles and pulls Em’s hand up to his face to kiss it. “Love you.”

“Love you,” Em returns, leaning into him as the subway pulls to a stop. She smiles as she noticed the stop. “Oh I know where we’re going now!”

“Oh do you?” He laughs as Em nods her head vigorously. “Wrigley Field!”

“Smart as ever,” Ni lets her lead the way. He wants to start the spiel he’s worked on all week, but Em starts before he can. “You were always so into sports; talked about basically every sport under the sun. So I got you box tickets for a Cubs game. I was so excited to give them to you, thinking I had gotten you the PERFECT gift. Only realized later that baseball was like the one sport you hated.” Em giggles, “Yet, you sat through the whole game with me, cheering when everyone else did and pretended like you were having the time of your life.”

“And god, was that hard,” Niall jokes, “pretending baseball isn’t boring. But I loved you for surprising me with the tickets and going with me, which I know was definitely not your idea of a perfect day either.”

“I was just happy to have a day with you.” At the time, Niall had moved on to his second job. The company was known for working their employees to death. Niall had almost no time off: he worked until 8 almost every night and he found himself still needing to work on weekends to catch up.

During that time, him and Em saw each other less than they ever had before or since. They could have easily drifted apart, much as he did with many of his other friends. But they remained close, mostly through texts. They only got to hang out together in person maybe once a month.

Emery had wanted to give Niall a good day off, practically begging him to take a few hours for her surprise. Niall smiles, leaning his forehead against Em’s. “I was always happy when we had a day together.”

He reaches into his pocket and pulls out the ring Emery had picked out a few weeks prior. “Listen, i know you don’t want a proposal. I promise I’m not going to get on one knee or anything. But I wanted to make it special regardless.” Niall reaches for her hand and slips the ring on as he gives her a small kiss. “You’re my forever, Emery.”

Em tries to hide the tears in her eyes, but she fails asa tear rolls down her cheek. “Where’s your ring?”

Niall smiles, pulling his matching band out of his pocket and handing it to her. Emery places it on Niall’s finger with the largest smile on her face. “You’ve been a constant in my life for ten years now. Every job, every move, every change in my life, you’ve been here. You’re my forever, Niall.”


	7. Thanksgiving

The entire ride to her parents house, all Emery can focus on is their wedding rings. She loves the designs they ended up going with and it makes their relationship feel a bit more official than it had before.

Luticia notices the rings as soon as the couple walk through the door. “Oh my gosh, you guys have rings this time!” She takes Em’s hand and looks at the intricate band, her mouth curled into a smile.

“We custom ordered them when we got back from our wedding weekend, it just took them a bit to come in.” Niall smiles, wrapping his arm around Em as the lies the couple came up with roll easily off his tongue. 

“They’re gorgeous. I’m so happy for you both,” Leticia smiles and pulls both of them into a hug as she invites them inside. She holds both of Em’s hands as she looks her up and down, “you’re positively glowing, baby.” She kisses her daughter’s cheek. “Hopefully that means some news?”

Em laughs, “promise you’ll be one of the first to know if there is.” Niall and her talked about this possibility most of the drive down. Niall knows it bothers Em that her parents are that focused on her being a mom, but there’s no running away to Maeve’s this time. They’re stuck together for a week, so Em does her best to divert the attention away from kids and Niall is there to support her.

“Dinner will be ready in about an hour. You guys can make yourself at home until then!” Leticia informs them and Niall smiles, grabbing their bags, “sounds great! Thanks Mrs. Rhodes.”

The pair head up to Em’s old room, which hasn’t changed a bit since she last lived here, well over a decade ago.

Em immediately heads to the full length mirror on her wall and checks herself out from the side. “I don’t look pregnant, do I?”

Niall, who was already unzipping the suitcase ready to start unpacking, pauses. “Hmm?”

“Mami was insinuating I’m pregnant. I don’t look it, so I?” Em tries flattening her stomach in the mirror. Sure, she’s gained a tiny bit of weight since she started seeing Niall. But she doesn’t think it’s noticeable on her and definitely not enough for someone to think she’s pregnant.

Niall crosses the room and wraps his arms around Em’s waist, pulling her body close to his as he places soft kisses up and down her shoulder, “not at all. You look just as unpregnant as you have since I first met you.”

Em laughs and pushes her back against him, “I hate you.”

“Yeah, yeah, heard it all before, love.” Niall kisses her neck. “You know…” he squeezes her close to him, “if you’re quiet, I can show you exactly how good you look today.”

Em rubs her fingers through his hair and pulls his face to meet hers for a kiss. “Or we could be as loud as we want. Just tell my mom we’re trying for a baby.”

Niall laughs and kisses her cheek, “you’re so bad.” He pulls away and heads back to the bed, “I think I’ll pass on that. Would rather my mother-in-law not hear us having sex in any capacity.”

Niall starts pulling the clothes out of the suitcase and looks up to see a huge smile on his wife’s face. “What?”

“Mother in law. Just love remembering we’re married.” Em sits on the bed, her smile unfaltering.

Niall gives her a soft kiss and smiles against her lips as he says, “it’s my favorite thing to think about.”

He pulls away from her because he’s determined to have their suitcases unpacked before they head down to dinner. Niall doesn’t travel often, but having all the clutter of living out of a suitcase is one of the things he hates the most. He always tries to unpack his stuff into drawers, even for just a weekend getaway.

Niall pulls open the first drawer and laughs. “Guess you didn’t take all of your clothes with you, huh?” He pulls out a pair of panties.

“Niall!” Emery laughs and tries to grab it from him but he just stretches it out so she can see the entire thing. “Those are from when I was 17!” They’re a pair that she clearly thought was sexy back then but now look kind of juvenile. They’re from Victoria’s Secret and have a huge ruffle along the waistband. 

“Try them on,” Niall says and Emery immediately knows that he’s not joking. She laughs, “Niall! I already know they won’t fit!” She hasn’t been able to wear most Victoria Secret underwear in a few years. Technically, she can wear their biggest size, but she’s found in practice that they tend to still be a bit small on her and there are limited styles in store in her size.

Niall continues to hold them out and Em rolls her eyes. “Fine!” She shakes her head and reaches under her dress to pull off her current hair. She pulls up the pair Niall found and, as she suspected, they’re tight. She can get them up but they dig into her skin.

“You happy?” She teases him and Niall laughs as he gives her a kiss and pulls the tight underwear down her body in one move. “I am- yeah. Thanks for humoring me.”

Em leans back from him with a smirk on her face, “maybe you can humor me then.” She leans back on the bed and lifts her legs, pulling the underwear off the rest of the way and holds them up to her husband, “put them on.”

Niall shakes his head but, without even a slither of shame, undoes his jeans and pulls them and his Calvin Klein’s off. He grabs the tiny panties from her and pulls them on over himself.

He turns to the mirror and laughs as one of his balls is falling out, “definitely not made for me, love.”

Em can’t contain her laughter, just watching him trying to adjust himself into these tiny panties. He finally gets something that’s comfortable and turns around, giving the mirror a full shot of his ass. “That looks nice though.” 

Em’s face is almost red from laughter and Niall has to give himself a minute to watch her face scrunch up from the giggles and the deep breaths she takes as she wipes away the tears forming in her eyes.

“God I love you,” she tells him once her face is back to a semi-normal color and she’s calmed down enough to talk. Niall places himself directly between her legs and kisses her as he lays her back on the bed. “Love you too.”

Niall pulls her further onto the bed, making sure they’re both fully on it before kissing her neck. He moves his hips against hers, but that small range of motion causes the bed’s headboard to hit the wall.

“Urgh.” Niall groans. He pushes himself off the bed much to Em’s disappointment. Her bottom lip juts out of her mouth and Niall shakes his head. “So impatient.” He grabs the bed’s metal foundation and pulls it away from the wall.

Niall climbs back on top of his wife and pushes his hips against hers and smirks as the bed only creaks slightly. “Much better.”

The couple enjoy a few minutes to themselves, their suitcases pushed to the edge of the bed as they find themselves too preoccupied with each other.

Em lays against Niall as the two come down from their highs. “So, I have to ask,” Niall starts, “am I the first one to give it to you on this bed?”

“Niall!” Em laughs, pushing away from him, “you’re absolutely terrible.” She sits up and reaches for her dress, pulling it back on.

Niall sits up and watches as his wife grabs the suitcases and finishes the unpacking he had started. She finds spots in her old drawers for her and Niall’s clothes. Em doesn’t mind just grabbing clothes out of the suitcases, but she knows that it bothers Niall, so she takes her time making sure everything has a spot for him. As she finishes, Em pushes the empty suitcases in one of the corners.

“Ready to head down for dinner?” She asks, turning to where Niall has remained, naked on her old bed, watching her.

“Of course,” he smiles, tossing his forgotten clothes back on. “It’s a good thing that we decided to do that before dinner. I don’t think I’ll even be able to move if dinner is as good as it was last time.”

Em shakes her head as the pair makes their way back downstairs, “just because my mom offers you another plate doesn’t mean you have to take it! Especially if you’re on thirds already!”

“Hey, it’s not my fault the food is that good.” He laughs and turns to his mother-in-law as she’s checking the food in the oven. “Speaking of, I’m going to need recipes for everything you bake this week.”

Leticia smiles, “I don’t have any written down, but I’ll work on it for you. At least someone appreciates my cooking.”

“We all love your cooking, Mami. Don’t know what you’re on about.” Em shakes her head and grabs some plates from the cabinets and starts setting the table for dinner.

——-

The next few days pass without Leticia making more references to children. Thankfully, once Leena arrives, her parents are too preoccupied with their grandchildren to continue pressuring them.

“Niall! Nice to see you again,” Leena smiles as she hugs her new brother in law. “Congratulations on your marriage.” She winks at him, “told you what? 5 years ago it’d happen.”

Niall laughs, remembering that day well. Leena and her now husband, Joe, had a rough patch. Em had opened her apartment to her sister and Leena stayed with her for about a month. In that time, she had a first row seat to Niall and Em’s dynamic.

Even though they hadn’t seen it themselves, Leena tried her hardest to nudge their friendship into more. She could see how close Em and Niall were and wanted to help her sister find the type of happiness that comes with finding your soulmate.

Of course, at the time Em had basically ended up screaming at Leena after one night too many of trying to get them together. At the time, Leena was upset because she really just wanted what was best for her sister.

As the years passed, she started to realize that her sister was happy. Em and Niall’s relationship hadn’t had to be romantic for them to be good together. Of course, now that it is romantic, they realize how much better their lives are.

Just like Leena told them.

Niall shakes his head, “Yeah, well it worked out in its own time, didn’t it?”

“Sure did.” Leena smiles and hugs him again, “I’m so happy for you both. Really.” She heads over to Joe and it’s not long until Em is back at Niall’s side, this time with Peter on her hip.

“Hi!” Niall smiles, tickling Peter’s feet, causing him to kick wildly while he lets out a laugh that feels too loud for his small 10 month old body. Peter reaches out for Niall and he wastes no time scooping the baby up and blowing raspberries against his cheeks, each time receiving a fit of laughter from the baby.

Peter laughs almost the entire time Niall holds him, which ends up being the rest of the night. Anytime someone else tries to pick him up, he cries until he’s back on Niall’s lap.

The adults have a beer and start joking around, telling stories of some of the family members Niall hasn’t met yet. Each story is followed by Em searching for a picture of them, so Niall can have a face to the name and the story.

Peter ends up falling asleep on Niall’s shoulder. He’s hardly fussy or crying: the whole night he seemed content just being close to Niall. Em can relate; Niall’s a calming presence in her life too.

When they decide to call it a night, Joe carefully pulls Peter off of Niall so the baby doesn’t wake up. Em and Niall head up to their bedroom, both a bit tipsy.

It isn’t long until the couple end up entangled, once again, on Em’s childhood bed. They try their best to be quiet, but it seems every move they make causes the old bed to squeak. All their attempts end up in an explosion of giggles louder than the creaking bed.

The pair finally calm, both content to lay against each other as the alcohol starts to make them feel drowsy.

Em has her fingers in Niall’s chest hair, tugging at it lightly, loving the moans that escape from his mouth with every movement. “Niall?”

“Hmm?” He responds, his eyes still closed, his pink lips barely parting. Em can tell he’s tired and probably on the verge of sleep, but she hasn’t been able to stop thinking about him with her nephew.

“Do you want kids?” She asks, her hand stopping. Even though her parents have brought it up several times, it’s not a conversation they’ve had yet. But seeing him with Peter, she realized just how great of a dad Niall would be.

“Hmm?” Niall replies, more alert now than he was just a few seconds ago. “Yeah… I mean, I don’t know. I always imagined I’d have kids one day.” He wraps his arm around Em, his fingers moving their way through her hair, “what about you?”

Emery smiles, leaning into Niall’s chest with her lips mere inches away from his, “I think I do too.” She kisses him softly, “It’s weird. I’ve never been preoccupied with it. It’s been something that was expected of me. I figured it would just happen naturally or I’d just adopt or foster when I was ready. But seeing you with Peter tonight… god, you’d be a great dad.”

Niall smiles and kisses the top of his wife’s head, “and you’d be a great mom. But just because you’d be good at it doesn’t mean you have to do it. It depends on what you want.”

Em nods, but smiles, “but I want kids. With you.”

“Yeah?” He turns just slightly so he can see Em’s smile in the moonlight radiating from the window. As he watches her, he can easily imagine the rest of their lives together. Each day ending just like this: the two of them cuddled in bed, talking about anything. Niall smiles, “You want them now?”

Em laughs and kisses him. “I mean, it wouldn’t be the worst thing if it just happened. But I think we need to discuss it more before we decide to actually try. This probably isn’t a decision we should make one night after a few beers.”

Niall shakes his head and pulls her close, “Definitely not. Thankfully we’ve got the rest of our lives to decide when it’s right.”

Em leans into his chest, her smile wide enough that Niall can feel it against him. “I can’t wait to see what our future holds.”


	8. White Wedding

The Christmas holidays come quicker than either Emery or Niall could imagine. To say Emery is nervous would be an understatement. She’s met some of Niall’s family here and there, but now she’ll be staying with them and be meeting everyone he grew up with.

Niall can feel Emery’s rapid heartbeat as they wait by baggage claim. “Nervous?” He whispers as his hands find their way into her grip. Em squeezes his hands, a silent gesture to tell him she’s alright.

“A bit. I’m just hoping they like me.” Niall returns her hand squeezes with a smile on his face. He already knows that she has nothing to worry about. Em and his mom have gotten close in the three months they’ve been married.

Niall’s used to calling his mom every week. He’s a self-described momma’s boy and, really, he just loves talking to her while he’s still able to. What he didn’t expect was how quickly his mom took to his wife. It wasn’t long before Em was talking about things his mom texted her. His mom even sent over one of his favorite recipes that Em tried her hardest to make for him (which ended up not being that great, but he appreciated the gesture nonetheless).

As far as Niall’s concerned, as long as Em has the love of his mom and dad, he’s good. It would be nice if she could get along with all his friends and family, but it’s not going to bother him if it doesn’t happen as easily as he hopes it will.

“They’ll all love you. Not quite as much as I do, I hope. But still a ton of love.” Niall rubs his nose against her cheek before leaning in for a peck.

Em returns his kiss before they grab their bags and make their way to where Niall’s dad is waiting to pick them up. On the way to his mother’s place, Niall and Bobby trade stories of their time apart, with both listing off places or people they need to catch up with while Niall’s in town. “Of course, most of them will be at your reception Saturday,” Bobby says as he pulls into the driveway of Niall’s childhood home.

“Mom’s been working hard on that hasn’t she?” Niall asks as he grabs the bags from the trunk.

“Of course. You know, she always wanted to be at your wedding. Think she just wants to be a part of that experience in a way.”

Niall sighs, feeling guilty once again that his family wasn’t at his wedding. “You know we plan on having a ceremony once we save up. We didn’t mean to exclude you guys.”

“We definitely want you all to be a part of the ceremony,” Em smiles. Niall and her have discussed their future in depth. Since their relationship is new, they’ve decided to go with the story that they’re saving for a wedding. Then, when they think that they would be ready for marriage in a normal situation, they’ll have the ceremony with their family and friends by their side.

“Make sure to tell your mother that,” Bobby laughs as he grabs the last of the bags from the trunk. 

Maura brings Emery into a hug as soon as she sees her. “So glad you could make it!”

“What, she comes before your favorite son now?” Niall jokes, going in for a hug once his wife is finished. His mom shakes her head, “You and Greg need to stop that.”

“Only been home for a minute and already got in trouble with mom!” Niall pouts, earning an eye roll from Maura and a head shake from Emery.

Niall and his dad head into the living room, where Greg is waiting for his brother. Niall’s nephew, Theo, runs into his arms as soon as he sees him, with an “uncle Niall!” screamed at him.

“Hey buddy! Missed you!” Niall listens to his nephew rattle off everything that’s happened since the last time they saw each other while Emery helps Maura finish up dinner in the kitchen.

“So I tried that recipe you had sent me. I don’t think I got it quite right,” Em sighs as she’s put in charge of stirring the stew.

“I’m glad you at least tried,” Maura smiles as she resumes cutting the vegetables. “I can make it for dinner while you’re here. It’s quite an involved recipe, took me ages to get it correct myself.”

“I’d like that. Niall misses you all a lot. It’d be great to give him a little slice of home.” Em smiles. The silence that follows is far from awkward. Emery takes in the kitchen as she stirs, enjoying the chance to see where Niall grew up.

Even in their small interactions so far, Em sees her favorite parts of her husband reflected in his parents. Being here is giving her the chance to get to know Niall in a way that their decade of friendship never did.

Maura breaks into her thought process as she drops the vegetables into the pot. “Here dear, lets leave this simmer for a second. I have something I want to show you.”

Em covers dinner and follows Maura into her bedroom. “I hope this isn’t too presumptuous, but I thought it’d be nice if you could wear this for the reception if it fits.”

Em turns around to see Maura holding a wedding dress. “It was from my wedding to Niall’s father. I know you would probably want your own for the wedding you two are planning, but I think you’re probably close to the size I was when I was married and it’d be nice for the reception we’re planning.”

“Of course, Maura.” Emery hugs her quickly, trying to stop the tears from coming. It’s insane to her that in just a few short months of talking to Niall’s family, she feels like they’ve accepted her wholeheartedly.

“Let’s try it on, shall we?” Emery smiles as she silently wipes the tears forming in her eyes. Maura helps her step into the gown. Her mother-in-laws eyes light up as she exclaims, “oh I knew it would fit! I’ll have to take it in a little here and there…”

Her words trail off in Emery’s mind as she turns to see herself in the mirror. Tears line her eyes instantly. This is the first wedding dress she’s ever tried on and just seeing herself in the mirror causes her to become overcome with emotion.

Emery’s spent a long time keeping people at a distance. Honestly, she thought she would never be at a point in her life with a serious relationship, much less a marriage. Seeing herself in a wedding gown reminds her of how far she’s come in a short time. Emery can’t believe she’s in a good relationship- a marriage with a future. She never thought she’d be here.

—-

After dinner, the boys clean the dishes while Emery heads to the bedroom she’s sharing with Niall. His and Greg’s childhood bedroom with a single bunk bed against the wall is where they’ll be staying for the next week.

Greg’s going back to his place for the night, so Em and Niall will have to share the bed. Emery makes both beds and gets her stuff up on the top bunk by the time Niall comes back into the room.

“Romantic, huh?” Niall laughs as he motions to the bunk beds. “Mom said they tried to upgrade to a bed in here before we came, but with Christmas, money was tight.”

Em shakes her head, “it’s fine, we can sleep without cuddling for a week.”

“Speak for yourself,” Niall laughs as he places a kiss on her lips. “Don’t think I’ll have a good nights sleep until you’re back in my arms.”

“You’re so lame,” Em giggles, the large smile on her face exposing the fact that she likes it.

“We could always try though,” Niall laughs, laying down on the mattress, which seems smaller now that he’s an adult. Em lays against him, her body flush against his, but still just barely on the bed. “Don’t think we’ll be able to sleep like this,” she teases.

Niall laughs and kisses her gently, “who said anything about sleeping?” Emery shakes her head, but wastes no time straddling him.

It doesn’t take long before the entire world fades. The couple have a hard time paying attention to anything except each other. That is, until Emery leans up and knocks her head on the bottom of the top bunk.

Em has to bury her head in Niall’s chest to stifle her laughter so they don’t wake anyone else in the house up as Niall rubs the back of her head as he tries to quiet his own laugh.

“Top bunk?” He asks and receives a quick no from Emery. “The whole bed shakes. Know from experience?”

“Experience huh?” Niall questions, his eyebrow cocked, although he doesn’t ask her to elaborate. Em rolls off of Niall and leans against one of the dressers in his room. “This should work though.”

Niall contains his laughter as he quickly follows his wife across the room. “Thank god we don’t have to deal with this everyday, huh?”

“The small things in life!”

——

Christmas passes swiftly for the Horans. Food is made, cookies left for Santa, and gifts exchanged. Aside from Emery’s presence and Niall’s new relationship status, it’s the same as it is every year.

The holiday is just a stepping stone to the real event: the reception that Niall’s parents have planned. Almost all of Mullingar has been invited to their house, ready to celebrate the marriage of him and Emery.

Emery told Niall that she had to get ready, but he hasn’t seen her in a couple hours now and he’s been stuck trying to greet everyone in his mom’s cramped house. It’s difficult because most of them want to meet his wife, but she’s disappeared as of now.He’s leaned up against the couch in the living room, working on his third beer as he’s rattling off the developments in his life to one of the cousins he rarely talks to when he feels the room become silent. Niall looks around to see what’s going on when he notices Emery walk into the room in a white wedding dress. He feels all the breath leave his body and he can’t stop himself from tearing up a bit as he sees her. His cousin is quickly forgotten as he crosses the room and engulfs his wife in a kiss.

A chorus of “aww’s” can be heard as a few people cheer for the couple. But for Niall, all he can pay attention to is his wife. “Where’d you get this?”

“Your mom. It was hers, she wanted me to wear it tonight.” Light is practically radiating off of Niall as he smiles, “smart woman, my mom.”

The pair find a place on one of the chairs that was dragged into the living room for the party. Emery sits on Niall’s lap as Niall points out different people to her. She tries her best to keep a running list of names, paired with faces, in her mind. Friends and family come up to them throughout the night, introducing themselves to Emery and sharing increasingly embarrassing stories of growing up with Niall.

Niall doesn’t think life gets much better than this. He’s surrounded by his family and best friends in the house he grew up in with the love of his life. So far, 30 is pretty perfect.


	9. Purposefully Married

Emery finds it hard to believe that it’s been almost two years since her and Niall went to Vegas. Their relationship has changed so much in that time.

While their first few months together were amazing, they soon realized that not everything was perfect. Em wanted them to experience their relationship as if they weren’t married, and they did. They had a few fights, minor things that they held down and pretended didn’t exist because they didn’t want to ruin their perfect relationship until it became a huge issue.

It wasn’t long until Niall had come to her after one of the fights with tears in his eyes, telling her that his worst fear is losing her. That allowed Em to open up as well. Together, they talked through their issues, including ones that hadn’t become fights yet. Both soon realized that things were better when they communicated.

Niall and Em’s relationship benefited from that conversation. It feels weird to say, but it does feel perfect. Maybe not in a “everything is amazing 100% of the time” way, but rather knowing that if something’s bothering her, she can go to her husband about it and work through it together.

It was just over a year together that Emery realized she wanted to marry Niall. It was a weird realization, since they were already married. But at that point, she knew that she was choosing to.

She wished it could have been some huge moment in their relationship that made her realize. Yet, it was something routine. Niall had stayed up late watching a game of golf and Emery had tried to stay up with him. However, she ended up falling asleep on his lap just a couple holes in.

Niall had meticulously picked her up from the couch and carried her to bed, tucking her in. He knew that sleeping on the couch would hurt her neck when she woke up, so he wanted to save her from the pain. Emery had awoken just as Niall was trying to tuck her in. The fuck he muttered under his breath as he struggled to get the blanket undone from the made bed bringing her out of her slumber.

Emery watched as he tried his best to cover her in the dark room, since he hadn’t wanted to risk waking her up by turning on the light. “I love you,” she said with a large smile on her face.

“Knew I waked you,” He pouted, “sorry love.” Niall leaned down and kissed her forehead, “be more careful next time.”

Even though her eyes were heavy, begging her to go back to sleep, Emery watched as Niall finished tucking her in. As he headed for the doorway, she told him, “I’m ready for the wedding.”

Niall had paused in the doorway briefly before climbing into bed behind her. His golf game forgotten as he realized what Emery was saying.

Only a week from that night passed before Niall officially proposed. Even waiting that long had him antsy, but he had a hard time finding the perfect ring. He swore he visited every ring shop in Chicago. None of them seemed to capture Emery perfectly.

Niall was about to give up and settle for one that he thought she’d like when he found it while passing an antique shop. The ring is from the 1920’s and the shopkeeer talked his ear off about the ring and how many people had worn it. Niall knew it was the exact thing Emery would love and the ring was already in her size. It had to be fate.

As soon as he purchased the ring, he went home and proposed. Niall wanted to do a large proposal, take her to a nice dinner and propose in a room filled with her favorite flowers. But when he came home to her, he realized that any moment with her was the perfect moment.

So he proposed to her in the middle of their kitchen. As Emery gushed over the ring he got her, Niall made sure to relay every story he could remember about who the ring belonged to.

For Emery, it felt as if the ring was bringing the luck of life long marriages with it. Every time she looks at the ring, she finds herself thinking back on their journey together.

Soon, their relationship will take on a new step. Emery doesn’t know for sure yet. She wanted to take the test with Niall, but she understands her body and she can tell that it’s been off for a few weeks now. That, with her missing period, has her sure that she’s pregnant.

Em bought tests on her way home. She’d never purchased one before, so she got several different kinds just to be sure.

“Hey baby,” Niall smiles as he enters their apartment. He kisses her on the cheek, as he normally does but unaware that things might change very soon.

“Funny you say that,” Em smiles, trying her best to hide her excitement as she holds up the gift bag with the tests in them.

Niall looks confused as he takes the bag, but his face lights up almost instantly when he realizes what’s inside. “Are you…?!”

Em giggles and covers her face. “I think so. I’m pretty sure actually, yeah. I wanted us to take the tests together though.”

“Let’s do it now then!” He smiles, “wait do you have to pee? Should I grab you some water?”

Em laughs, “I’ve been holding it in since I left work. I have to go so bad.”

“Perfect!” He kisses Em as his hands travel along her hips. Niall tries his best to not get his hopes too high. He realizes that the test could be negative, but he enjoys the idea of them starting a family. “Let’s go let’s go!!” He laughs and follows Em the short walk to the bathroom.

Emery opens one of the boxes and uses the test. Niall leans against the wall, biting nervously on his thumb. “So?” He asks as soon as she finishes using the bathroom and Em laughs, “it takes a few minutes Ni!” She washes her hands and then wraps her arms around his waist as she leans into him. “Excited?”

“Incredibly so. I can’t wait to be a parent with you.” He kisses his wife and rests his forehead against hers. “I can’t believe how lucky I am.”

“Well, we don’t know for sure yet,” Em teases, causing Niall to let out a large laugh, “I’m just as lucky if you aren’t. I get to be with the love of my life.”

“You’re disgustingly sweet.” Em laughs as the timer she set on her phone goes off. There, in two pink lines, is proof of what she’s known all along. “Congratulations, you’re going to be a father.”

Niall picks her up and spins her around, kissing her as he presses her up against the counter. “Parents. We’re going to be parents.”

The new parent glow that radiates off the couple last the couple weeks until their wedding ceremony. Things are stressful leading up to it. They had decided to plan the whole thing themselves and Emery had misjudged just how much had to be planned.

Niall tried his best to help the entire time, but kicked that up a lot after learning of Emery’s status. The last thing he needs is an overwhelmed, pregnant wife.

It is all worth it though the day of. Everyone says that their wedding day is perfect, but Niall and Em’s actually is. Both are near tears as Emery starts her walk down the aisle.

When Em’s dad gives her away, Niall thanks him and immediately kisses Em. All of their loved ones laugh as the priest says, “we’re not quite there yet.”

Niall presses his forehead against his wife as he composes himself before joking, “sorry, just got a bit excited.”

Their vows, spoken from the heart, has them both smiling like idiots with tears in their eyes. They recount their constant presence in each other’s lives before they got together and share a few favorite memories before they exchange rings. They decided to reuse the ones they purchased several years before, simply as a way to save money since they had already spent much more than they anticipated when they started planning and they now needed to save since they have a new addition coming to their family.

Finally, they’re asked the question they’ve been waiting for. After exchanging their I Do’s, they walk back down the aisle together. An accidental marriage, started with a drunken wedding, has turned to a purposeful marriage. One full of love, respect, and a bright future. 

The End.


End file.
